Fullmetal Alchemist Fan Fiction ❯ Set in Stone ❯ Playing With Fire ( Chapter 9 )

Chapter Nine

Playing With Fire

 

`The game of life is a game of boomerangs. Our thoughts, deeds and words return to us sooner or later with astounding accuracy.'

- Florence Scovel Shinn

 

The mood was relaxed as the 6 Military professionals lay about the room, doing nothing in particular. Excluding Hawkeye of course, who was trying to at least look like she was doing work. Ed yawned loudly and stretched, sighing in contentment. It had been a few weeks now since his return. He'd decided to stay with the military; he needed a job after all. Winry had gone home and he'd recently moved into a house and was now getting it furnished. Ah, life was sweet. Breda and Fuery were playing a game of Shogi. “Move that red thingy to E5.” Ed hinted at Fuery, who blinked at the board and smiled.

 

“Thanks Ed.” He said, picking up the piece and moving to the said square.

 

“Hey!” Breda exclaimed, sitting up straighter. “Stop giving him hints!”

 

“He needs them.” Ed replied, wiping the smile off Fuery's face as he turned with a `hey!' Ed shrugged. “Fine I won't help.” He said. He relaxed even further into the chair, ignoring Fuery's pleas of help.

 

“Maybe instead of playing games, you should do some work.” Hawkeye suggested calmly, shuffling papers in her hands and transferring them to the file cabinet against the wall.

 

“Work's boring.” Havoc complained.

 

“He's got a point.” Falman added, his head resting on the desk, twiddling one of his pens.

 

“What are you talking about!?” Ed said loudly, drawing the attention of all in the room.

 

“You enjoy working Fullmetal?” Mustang asked sardonically. “”Cause I was under the impression you didn't like it.” Ed smirked, laughing loudly.

 

“I love work.” He said, leaning further into his chair, he was about to slide off. “It fascinates me. I could sit and look at it for hours.” Falman, Havoc, Breda and Fuery all snorted in laughter and turned back to what they had been doing: nothing. (1)

 

“Seeing as you like work so very much, Edward,” Hawkeye began, Ed groaned. “You can take this down to Scheiska for me.” She handed some books to Ed, who picked them up and stood up, heading out the doors to give the books to the resident bookworm.

 

“Hey wait up!” Falman called. “We're all going out tonight, with Armstrong and that. I forgot you're old enough to drink now, you wanna come?” he asked. Ed stopped.

 

“The Major?” he asked hesitantly. Falman laughed nervously. “Yeah alright.” He answered before Falman could say anymore. “Tell me about it when I get back.” That's right, just another day at work.

 

~~~

 

The bar was bustling with people, chatter and music. Ed looked up towards the stage where the house band was playing. He scoffed. Fuery looked at him in confusion. “What?” He asked, “Don't you like it?” Ed shook his head.

 

“No, it's great. I just never realised how crap the music is here.” (2)

 

“Can you do better Fullmetal?” Mustang asked skeptically, leading the group across the floor. Ed fell in step with him.

 

“Hell yes.” He answered. “The bloody guitar's not even tuned right.” Havoc looked at him with a perplexed expression.

 

“When did you become a musician?” He asked.

 

“Well I had a lot of free time on my hands. And the instruments in Germany are much better than these pieces of crap. No offense.” He added as an afterthought, sitting on a chair at the large table they had headed for. “When I finish making that thing at Winry's house than I'll show you. Hmmm, no one's invented one of those here yet. I could become rich.” He pondered this for a while, the group choosing to ignore him, until Breda began collecting drink orders.

 

The night progressed, they danced, they ate, they drank, they laughed, and they talked. After about 20 minutes, Alphonse had joined them, much to Ed's delight, and then, much to his annoyance, Major Armstrong had arrived. He suffered a bone-crushing hug, and a shower of tears and sparkles, but he was glad to see the huge man anyway.

 

As Mustang invited Hawkeye to the dance floor and they began to slowly dance, a thought occurred to Ed. “Hey,” he asked Breda who turned towards him curiously. “What's it like working with the married couple?” he asked, nodding his head in the direction of the dancing pair. Breda laughed.

 

“It's alright, apart from people calling Hawkeye Colonel Mustang, nothing much has changed.” He paused. “Except when they have a fight, then it's just plain awkward until they get over it. Like the time Mustang nearly burnt down the kitchen.” Ed laughed.

 

“I heard about that,” he said. “Colonel Mustang, ha, that'd be confusing.”

 

“You don't know the half of it. People who've heard about the Flame Alchemist, `Colonel' Mustang', get the two of them confused. It's kinda funny to watch the poor idiots who say, `I thought you were a guy'.” Ed laughed again. “What about you?” Breda asked.

 

“Huh?” Ed asked, taking a sip from his drink. “What about me?”

 

“What's you status with the ladies?” He asked sneakily. Ed looked back at the crowd.

 

“Well, there's Winry.” He said after a while, “But I'm not sure what's actually going on there.”

 

“It's because you're both idiots.” Al inputted. Ed turned and glared at him.

 

“What was that?” He was beginning to think Al wasn't used to alcohol. Because he wasn't acting very intelligent for the few drinks he had had.

 

A look of remembrance crossed his face. “Oh yeah, I wasn't gonna say that to you `cause you'd pummel me.” He said, the realization dawning on him. Ed rolled his eyes, and turned back to Breda.

 

“Any of you in any serious relationships?” He asked. Breda laughed.

 

“I wish, I don't know about the others. I think Havoc's got a girl, but hasn't he always?” He took a swig of beer. “Falman likes Scheiska, and I think there's something going on there but I'm not sure. But surely you had some other flings while you were gone.” Ed nodded slowly.

 

“Yeah…there was one.” He said. “That got rather serious.”

 

“What happened?” Breda asked cautiously. Al excused himself to go to the bathroom.

 

“…she died.” He said simply, finishing off his drink. Breda was at a loss for words. He wasn't an emotional person; he didn't know what to say. So, naturally, he changed the subject.

 

“So those articles finally stopped.” He said conversationally. Ed smirked.

 

“Yeah, `bout time. I hate reporters.” Ed said spitefully.

 

“I heard some far-fetched things.” Breda chuckled. “D'you know one article even suggested that you couldn't use alchemy anymore?” He laughed again, “You, you, of all people.” Ed laughed, somewhat nervously.

 

“Yeah…yeah, they'll write anything.” He replied. He could see, in the corner of his eye, faint sparkles, from Armstrong as the group began to head over, and he couldn't help roll his eyes. He stood up, ignoring what Breda had been saying; something about `transmuting them all into…' and the rest was lost. (3)

 

“Where're you going?” Breda asked.

 

“I'm gonna call it a night.” He said. He pulled out some money and gave it to Breda, “That should be enough for my drinks.” He explained. “Don't spend it. Or I'll transmute you.” Breda gave him a mock salute.

 

“Sure thing Ed.” He answered. As he turned to collect the cash, his hand knocked Ed's empty glass. It fell to the ground and shattered. Ed sighed, as Breda frowned. “Woops.” He said. Ed pulled out a few more dollars.

 

“Here, that's for the glass.” He said exasperated.

 

“Can't you just fix it?” he asked. Ed started towards the door. “Ed?” he called. “Just use alchemy.” Ed turned around.

 

“I…” he began. Then he changed his mind. “See ya tomorrow.” And left the bar, in a rather hurried manner. Breda dawned to the realization, as the group came back over, and Al returned from the bathroom, asking where his brother went; that Ed hadn't yet used alchemy that he had witnessed, and that he'd never denied what the articles had said. He snapped out of his reverie when Havoc had a go at him for making a mess, so he decked him. Nearly started a bar fight while he was at it.

 

So he hadn't fixed a broken glass. So what? He shook his head…so what?

 

~~~

 

They were all feeling the aftereffects of last night the next morning. “Uhhh...” Havoc groaned. “Why'd I drink so much? I hate headaches.” He complained, to which the rest of them agreed. Hawkeye walked into the office, Black-Hayate trailing behind her, and she was shortly followed by Mustang.

 

“Good-morning boys.” She greeted.

 

“Says who?” Falman asked grumpily. Mustang smirked, and took special care to slam the door loudly, deciding the throb his head sent through his body was worth it to watch the others complain and wince. They soon went about their normal business, basically nothing.

 

“It sure has been quiet lately.” Fuery commented.

 

“Ahhh, touch wood!” Breda called. He glared at Fuery. “Are you trying to jinx us?” He asked, touching the wood of a potted plant in the corner.

 

“You think that touching the tree's going to stop anything happening Breda?” Mustang asked skeptically. “You lot have always been paranoid and superstitious.” He yawned loudly. “Where's Fullmetal? He's 20 minutes late.” He asked grumpily. It was then the rest of them noticed that he wasn't there.

 

“Maybe he's suffering the repercussions of our party last night.” Falman suggested.

 

“We're all still stuck here.” Havoc complained. “Why shouldn't he suffer with us?” The others nodded in firm agreement. “He left before the real party started anyway.”

 

“Bet he still drank more than you, I'm surprised he was able to think coherently. I think we have ourselves a young alcoholic.” Breda said in a sing-song voice.

 

“Fuery, go call him, tell him to get his ass in here no matter how bad his headache is.” Mustang ordered, with a bored expression on his face, his elbow on the desk supporting his head. Fuery left the room after a quick `Yessir!' “Is he coming?” Mustang asked when he opened the door and stepped in not 10 minutes later.

 

“No one picked up the phone sir, perhaps he's on his way here?” Fuery suggested. Mustang nodded and waved at him to sit down. However, when another half hour had passed with no sign of Ed, Mustang ordered Fuery to call again, once again receiving no answer. “I tried 5 times sir, I don't think anyone's home, I tried Alphonse's but his wife said he's not there either.”

 

Mustang sighed irritably. “That'd be right; he'd sleep through a bloody tornado if you let him.” He grumbled.

 

“Perhaps I should go check on him Major General.” Hawkeye suggested. Mustang met her eyes, “Considering the event a few weeks ago.” The others had forgotten about that, and it made this situation seem a lot more suspicious.

 

“Go then Colonel, if you see fit.” He said, dismissing her.

 

“I expect the paperwork to be completed when I return sir.” She said threateningly, and Mustang scowled.

 

“It's always paperwork.” He grumbled, pulling the sheets towards him, “It couldn't ever be anything interesting like…lighting something on fire.” He continued muttering under his breath, beginning to unhappily sign the sheets.

 

“You have a serious problem Colonel, you know that?” Breda asked. “You're a class 5 pyromaniac.”

 

~~~

 

Hawkeye pulled the car up slowly to the apartment Ed was renting, and realised that he was in quite a remote area. I haven't been here yet, she thought, walking up the stairs and knocking on the door. When no one answered she knocked again, and peeked through the window. She could see the dark hallway, yet there were still no signs of life. She decided to try the back, stepping down from the porch and heading around the side path. It was then she noticed a faint roar in her ears, and a smell she recognised. Her eyes widened as she noticed the smoke rising up from the house.

 

Fire! She thought quickly, running forward and turning the corner to the back of the house. She stopped in her tracks at the awesome sight of huge orange flames rising from the building. But she didn't hesitate in turning down the path she had just come from and busting open the front door. She noticed the lights were on and the smoke was what was making it dark.

 

With a burst of energy, Hawkeye slammed open the door to what she assumed to be the lounge, there was a lone couch, but nobody occupied the room. She heard a noise from the room across the hall. It sounded like something heavy hitting the ground. She crashed into the room, covering her mouth and coughing slightly, the smoke was beginning to get to her. A prone figure lay on the floor next to the bed, and she realised the sound she had heard was part of the roof collapsing in the kitchen. She ran towards Ed, who looked like he'd tried to get up but hadn't made it very far.

 

By the time she'd dragged him out of the house, and had fallen to her knees beside him, coughing profusely, she could see the distant flashes from a fire engine. Two fire engines, she corrected. A cough from the figure beside her drew her attention to the man lying on the ground; she quickly turned him over, blocked his nose, and covered his mouth with her own, breathing into him. He hadn't been breathing too well when she had taken him out of the house, and she wondered how long he'd been there, taking in the smoke and destroying his lungs. Damn, the colonel's going to have a fit. Well they'd wanted excitement she thought wistfully, pressing on Ed's chest, and once again leaning down to give him air.

 

“I hope Roy doesn't try to kill Ed for this…” she mumbled to herself, relieved when the authority's got there, and the paramedics took over. They also insisted on checking up on her and she let them fuss. Was it the same group as before? She wondered looking over at Ed, who was gaining consciousness, after being on the ventilator for a while. What've you gotten yourself into now Ed? She thought, locking eyes with the fierce blonde, as if willing the question into his head.

 

~~~

 

Mustang checked the clock again, though barely 2 minutes had passed since he'd last glanced at it, it had been a little over an hour since Hawkeye had been gone. At half-an-hour, he'd begun to feel slight concern. At the forty-five interval mark, he'd begun to worry. Now, he was considering going down to check for him self. And he was ten minutes from doing so, before a loud angry voice drifted to the group's ears.

 

“Would you leave me the hell alone?!” The loud angry voice was saying. “I'm fine! You know why people hate hospitals?” the voice was getting closer, and louder. “Because doctors are a pain in the ass. Yes you are a pain in the ass!” Mustang sighed, his headache was getting worse, Doctors? What had Fullmetal gone and done now?

 

“Listen to him Ed.” His head snapped up at the sound of his wife's voice, and he felt the worry disappear, feeling like an idiot for worrying in the first place. This was Riza Hawkeye he was thinking about.

 

“That's easy for you to say, they're not fussing over you.” Ed retaliated.

 

“That's because I'm not difficult like you and I already let them do what they needed.” Mustang stood up, why had the now Riza Mustang needed medical attention. Worry, make way for anger. The door opened and in burst an irritated, dirty Ed.

 

“What the hell happened this time?” Mustang asked as Hawkeye entered the room, shooing the doctor following her away. He could hear the doctor arguing with her uselessly before he rolled his eyes and gave up, turning away, and muttering.

 

He looked over at Ed, who was wearing a baggy shirt and pants that looked like they'd been borrowed. He also noticed that Hawkeye was wearing a new uniform. However both their faces had traces of ash on them, and Mustang could smell the smoke. “A fire?” He asked.

 

“Well you're the expert.” Ed huffed angrily. “Someone tried to burn my f-”

 

“Language!” Hawkeye said sharply.

 

“-house down.” Ed said, skipping what he had meant to say.

 

“What?” The others exclaimed, almost at the same time.

 

“I need you to go down and look at it, sir.” Hawkeye said calmly. “He's right, you are the expert.”

 

Mustang smirked. “Well there you have it gentlemen.” He said. “That tree was not a lucky one.”

 

“It's not funny!” Ed said loudly. “My stuff was in there, argh shit.” He said, before Hawkeye could stop him. “Shit, shit, shit. My briefcase was in my room, ahhh Alphons is going to kill me.” He rubbed his head sorely. “And I have a hangover, great, I need some aspirin.” He clenched his fist. “Argh I need to hit something.” The rest of them inconspicuously moved away. (4)

 

“I better go check it out; you want to come to try save your stuff Fullmetal?” He asked. Ed nodded.

 

“I may as well try.” He sighed. “All my photos were in there too.” He followed the Mustang's out of the room, as the others took another military car. Ed managed to salvage a few of his items, he was delighted to discover that his briefcase had been left in the spare bedroom, which had almost entirely missed the fire damage, but his furniture was mangled. “Ah well,” he joked. “Didn't like the stuff anyway. Good thing I had insurance.”

 

Mustang poked around the place, trying to find the source of the fire, and managed, at last to locate something. “Well, I believe I found the source of the fire.” Mustang said, at last, picking up the remains of a mangled home-made bomb. “Why do you always manage to piss off murderous people?” He asked Ed annoyed.

 

Ed laughed, “Its part of my charm.” He said, winking at him. Mustang rolled his eyes.

 

“Whatever the case, I think it would be best if you were placed under military supervision. You were lucky this time, but if Riza hadn't gotten here…” he let the sentence hang.

 

“Yeah, yeah.” Ed said distractedly. “Do whatever you want. Just don't stick me in the hostels.” He continued searching through the house, looking under fallen bits of timber and roof. Once he was satisfied he had everything that he wanted they left the place, and took Ed to the new home Mustang had organised for him. As Ed got out of the car, he looked up and down the street, recognizing one of the old buildings only a few houses from his. He stared at the old chapel, the last place he'd been before he'd disappeared to Germany.

 

“Something wrong Fullmetal?” Mustang asked, trying to find what he as staring at, but seeing nothing of particular interest. Ed shook his head.

 

“No. Nothing.” He headed into the new house, it was much the same as his other one, 2 bedrooms, a study, kitchen, bathroom, and small living area, which joined with the dining room. He was glad to find that the place had already been furnished and he didn't have to worry about sleeping on carpet, and moved in the few belongings he had managed to salvage. He sighed and lay down on the bed, not bothering to get changed, faintly spotting the shadow of one of the two guards Mustang had positioned to watch over the house, and then he fell asleep.

 

`A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort.'

 

(1) I love that quote! I love quotes! You should see my school homework diary lol. “I love work. It fascinates me. I could sit and look at it for hours.” And then it's like that one on pirates of the Caribbean 2 where Elizabeth goes to Jack “One of these days, you're going to do something about one of those good moments” or whatever I can't remember it and then Jack's like “I like those moments. I like to wave at them as they go by.” I'll stop rambling now.

(2) Can't really say that for certain seeing as they have next to nothing in the show about music, so I can say what ever I want! *insert evil laugh*

(3) I love the Armstrong sparkleness! It's hilarious, cracks me up every time, and then his family's got them all as well. I love that episode it's so funny when Havoc's like writing in the surveillance log.

(4) Do you ever get that urge, the almost overwhelming want to hit something, really, really, really, really hard?

 

Dude there's more writing responses to reviews and footnotes and author notes then there are chapter. OMG I got an A++ for my maths test. I didn't even know that you could get a ++. Then my teacher was like have you considered doing maths C next year which is like the full on maths subject and I think I'm gonna drop biology for it cause I hate science. I didn't think I'd ever beat my A+. Gosh I was happy as with that mark. So anyway here is another chapter. The reviews you guys are giving me are sooooo nice, you can criticise something if you think I could improve you know, it's okay.

 

Phe: Hehe, nah the part about Noah was my thing, and I realised it kinda doesn't go with how I'm planning to end it anyhow, so maybe I should change that. Yeah so I was in a hurry when I put up the last chapter so I didn't get to reply to the other stuff you wrote. Yes writing on a sugar high is fun, mmm sugar…I'm gonna b a diabetic before I'm 16 which is like in a few months so crap. Oh yes, Ed's story shall be revealed soon, but I still won't tell you all that has happened Muahahahaha! You must keep reading!!! And the female name things doesn't fit into this story, I had an idea for another, so I'm working on getting that out too. Yes you win Clue lol, you get…um…um…a hug *hug* you should feel special, I hate hugging people. Dude you know more about the stingray than I do, where do you live? Hehe Croc Doc, that's good. Wow this is a really long thing, you should feel special lol.

 

Misa92: I need a job before I can afford to get the DVD's and I'm too lazy, lol and my dad won't let me work over at the next town with the malls cuz he doesn't want me catching a bus home at 9:00 at night and I don't really want to either. But the movie's coming out this month!! Wooh!! I'm gonna have to order it from like America!! Crap!! I'll stop with the exclamations now lol. Enjoy.

 

SunshineSpaceCadet: Wooh thanks for the review, hope you like this chapter, sweet see you.