A/n; This is one of my contributions for the FMA Big Bang event 2012-2013, and is part of the reason that i haven't updated the current version of Like a Single Grain of Sand (I will get back to it, i swear the next chapter is still sitting on my hard drive!)
Paired with artwork "N", by CopperLetters- I'll make her piece the cover for this work once i have her permission. I set this piece roughly after the lab five incident, but I think I have forgotten much of the canon. It may have more than a bit of the post false-gate in it as well. Title: A funny thing happened in Rush Valley
Author: Debra Colvin
Genre: Drama/Action with slight comedy-of-errors
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 7040
Pairing/Characters: Ed/Win
Warnings: None
Summary: Ed and Al are passing through Rush Valley, and discover that many of the automail mechanics are missing.
He held his head high as he walked in amongst these pathetic things, these humans, wearing a skin and shape that was not his own. He did so well, acting the part he was made for, but he wasn't pleased, for these so called beings were rather like ants—an annoyance and little else. As he walked he played with fantasies of drawing out their screams, for he knew should he ever reveal his true form to this pathetic lot, magnificent as it was, they would only scream in horror. Not that he really understood horror, but he could appreciate the pathetic—what was that word..? Ah yes – "insignificance" that these weaklings would display before he finally put an end to them. He could almost smell the fear now, and he felt his carefully constructed nostrils flare artfully in response to that most pleasing of thoughts.
"..Coffee?" he heard one of the things ask, and he carefully composed his borrowed face as he turned. The human stood behind the counter in this shop, pen poised over a pad of paper.
Envy narrowed the eyes on his face, the plan Father ordered into action weaving into shape as he played his part.
"Sure." He said, and added, "I would speak with your manager first."
oooooo
Ed settled himself back into the rather uncomfortable wood of the carved deck chair, and listened to the chatter of the coffee house. The room was rather small for Rush Valley, and although he happened to like this particular café, he wished he had gone elsewhere. Most of the people in the room happened to be female, and if there was one this he was certain of in this automail capital of Amestris, it was that the girls were weird.
".. I want to promote body art as much as possible..."
"What body odor…?"
"No body art."
"Huh? "
Ed knew this deeply and without a doubt. He pretended to be far too busy with the arrangement of the newspapers, magazines, and piled up papers to ever be politely approached in such an open and public space. He darted his eyes uselessly over the boldly printed headlines he lifted before him, but failed to read a single word.
He dearly wished Alphonse had accompanied him on this particular outing. He could never predict how the female of the species would react to his actions or words here. No. That wasn't actually it. He could always predict how the female of the species would react.
Females generally reacted quite violently. He dearly wished to avoid such rancid behaviors this day, for he could not stand to see any woman cry, even if they were half mad and almost certainly insane.
"Can I help you sir?"
He startled at the friendly sounding tone. He felt his eyes widen slightly as his brows rose towards his hairline. He did not debate whether or not to lower the newspaper he held up before his face. He had no reason to fear this person, whoever it was. She was likely simply an attendant or something, he reasoned. Besides, he feared no one.
No one but Iszumi Curtis, that is. And she was safely far away, tucked beyond reach behind the distance of a few hundred miles. Rush Valley was more than a train stop on the way to see Teacher, and he thanked his luck often for that simple fact. So.
With solid deliberation, he lowered the newspaper, aiming a scowl of annoyance at the woman who dared to approach his carefully constructed domain of solitude.
The woman was a dark skinned girl nearly his age. Her dark brown eyes reminded him strongly of Paninya, but that was as far as her resemblance to the automail clad girl went. Her nose was wider for one thing, and her lips... much… fuller. She also had curves and...her chest was...bigger...
"I saw your watch chain... Are you by any chance, the Fullmetal Alchemist?" She asked as he felt his cheeks begin to burn. He held his eyes steady as he replied in an icy tone.
"Who wants to know?"
"Well, I was sent in here on behalf of my employer. He has a stall set up on the street and he knows of your automail. He um, " She said in a breathy sort of hush as she glanced quickly over her left shoulder. Her long hair, arranged into a high pony tail, fell artfully down over her skin. "..has this finger accessory that he want you to see, for your..."
Ed felt his cheeks burn, and he self-consciously glanced down to his right arm. It was covered by his dark coat sleeve, the one with the white trim, and the mechanical hand remained contained within a glove. He may be famous, but her display was also making him suspicious. Perhaps he had gained a reputation for being an easy mark for a clever thief?
"Not interested." Ed snarled and lifted the newspaper back before his face.
"Oh I think you will be, sir." The girl purred, and a moment later laid her hand upon the very top of his crisp newspaper. The weight of her digits annoyingly crinkled the page down as she added rather breathily. "My employer, as I said, is running good work out of a cart, and would hate to turn any customer, unlike the mechanics in the shops of late. Or so I hear."
Ed allowed one corner of his lips to rise as he gazed at the girl.
"I happen to have the best mechanic there is, so that isn't going to be a problem. Thanks."
"I'm sure. But keep us in mind should you find that arrangement not be the case any longer." She nodded as she flashed a too bright smile. "By the way, my employer can only stay by this shop until the end of the week…"
"How cheap." Ed knew that meant that she worked for the worst of the automail mechanics. A shop ran out of a lowly cart was hardly the place of choice for mechanics in any town, much less a place with the stellar reputation of Rush Valley. For one thing, automail installation was technically a medical operation, and the chance of infection was high in the best of circumstances. A freaken cart had no way of sterilizing a thing for even the simplest of installations. Nasty business, that. The other problem was that the business in question could literally pack up and leave on the first glimmer of trouble. Say, like an angry crowd of automailists showing up to pound the lousy mechanic bloody for the shoddy work he had done to them.
"..before he is going to move on to Dublith." The girl reached into a pocket of her dull leather worker's apron and presented a grease stained card. Ed frowned at the bold printed script, and wrinkled up his nose in disgust as he looked again at the girl.
"Get lost." Predictably, her face fell in disappointment. About when her lower lip began to quiver, he tugged on the edges of his white gloves as he watched her though his eyelashes. She backed out slowly, and then directed her attention towards other women gathered at the tables. She managed to hand out a few cards to the ones with metal limbs, as there were a half dozen or so that he could tell... He then shifted in the chair and frowned at the stack of papers as he folded his arms.
With the philosopher's stone proven to be too hideous to be of any use, Ed had begun digging up another lead. He knew Alkestry was the art of healing brought in by a scant few stragglers from Xing. A good portion of what he could find of the art was only rumored mentions and most of the authors had dismissed it as a bogus practice all together. What little he managed to scrape together was contained in heavily encoded in Ishvalan, and even that was in pieces, scattered within this nest.
He was beginning to suspect that for Al, it would be far better, not to mention more direct, to simply consult with an Alkestry master. He and Al only knew of one, and finding her would be nearly as great of a challenge as tackling this pile.
He reached for his coffee, and took a slow sip from the mug.
Oooooo
He frowned at the four beasts trussed up in the leather straps before and below his wooden seat as he pulled back on the adjoining straps in his borrowed hands. As the beasts began to obey his will, and stopped their forward trudging in the sand and dust, he spotted the sentry standing at the top of the towering rock pile to his right.
He had on a far different skin than the one he favored that morning, and he wasn't entirely certain he liked this one any better. Hours of traveling in this creaking wooden contraption had made his mood so much worse, and as he looked over the borrowed pudgy fingers, he decided then that he actually despised this body after all. The upper lip on this face immediately curled upward as he thought this; he appreciated the skin's responsiveness as he glanced over his shoulder at the origin of his current borrowed looks.
The fat coffee shop manager remained trussed up in the thick ropes, and lay still in a heap nestled amongst a pile of massive white bags that sported the single word "coffee" printed boldly on one side. Envy did not care to check if the man took a breath, and even toyed with the idea of arranging a meal for his brother with this one as the main course. This body was nearly as rotund as his brother, but he doubted the dimwit named "Gluttony" would ever appreciate the irony of such a thing.
He turned his attention to the goods stacked high behind him the flat bed. Most of it consisted of large wooden boxes, and they too contained the same substance as the few massive white bags as far as he could tell. Coffee. Of all things. Coffee.
What a load of crap.
He allowed the air in his borrowed lungs to rush out of the nose in a huff as he turned back to the sentry. He lifted the blubbery arm in greeting and maneuvered the fingers in the agreed upon way. The sentry vanished from his view a few moments later, and Envy twisted the feature of his face. He knew he had little choice but to wait, and of all things he hated, he hated waiting the most, especially when it came to waiting for idiots like this "Bald" guy. The delays that the man came up with, like needing to equip those in his supposed army with a special kind of automail for the push up north. Ridiculous. The way he saw it, if the wretched insects that made up his army were so stupidly fragile, then they really should be put out of their misery all the sooner.
And now he demanded coffee. Coffee. What the hell the man would demand next before he got his ass moving Envy could not fathom.
The nationwide circle was nearing completion and time was ticking. If Father didn't need the use of these things' blood so badly, Envy would gleefully…oh hell.
On days like today… He would end them.
ooooo
The sun shined bright and warm in the clear blue sky as Ed trudged, with a slight limp, up the wide dusty street. He listened intently to his companion's chatter, filtering out the noisy clanks and hollow bangs by long habit. He knew every gesture of that towering shell of antique armor, for the ingrained mannerisms of his precious baby brother were of things he held most dear. By the way the spike covered shoulder plates were carried, for instance, he knew that Alphonse was feeling calm at the moment. It really didn't bother Ed, all that much, that the subject Al chose to speak of right now was a fluffy white kitten he was forced to give up to a little girl, back on the street to the right.
"Brother..?" The tone of that echoing voice suddenly changed, high, and flat. The shoulder plates creaked and scraped against the back brace, rising up very slightly in alarm.
"Yeah, Al? " Ed replied immediately, and glanced up at the twin red lights shining within the metal helm. He thought for a moment that Al had noticed the slight limp, which he was trying very hard to cover, and had decided to say something about it. The glowing orbs were not looking down in his direction, and with some relief, he swiveled his neck toward where they generally stared. "What's wrong..?" He added as he darted his eyes about.
His brows lowered slightly a moment later, and he stomped his way closer to the wide shop window. Both of his white gloved hands clenched at his sides, and he heard the clanking behind him. He knew it was Alphonse who followed. Ed glared at the small sign he saw posted through the glass, and folded his arms.
"The hell..?" He demanded from the useless letters as he read them once again. It read "Please come again" in a cheery pink cursive script. As the sign didn't change under his scrutiny, and he flicked his gaze to the placard hanging above the entrance, just to be sure that he was in the right place.
"Atelier Garfiel" was carved up there in the wood in the very same, girly script alright. He pivoted on a metal heel and faced the door. He narrowed his eyes and tried to peer through the glass pane. Shadows draped the store within, but here and there he could pick out the gleam of a metal something or other. A few of those shadows looked suspiciously like clawing fingers reaching for the ceiling.
"Winry said she was staying here, right?" He heard Al say as he banged the side of his automail fist against the wood portion of the glass door. A few flecks of dark green paint peeled off and clung to his red coat, and he brushed them off with a snarl of impatience with his other hand. He busied himself with pressing his ear against the glass as Alphonse approached the glass window and shielded both sides of his helm with his leather gauntlets. "I don't think anyone's in there, Brother."
"There has to be someone there, Al. Hell. Winry's always saying they are so busy since she began her apprenticeship that they never close." Ed let out a breath and added in a low tone. "Someone's messing with me, I know it."
oooooo
"There she is." Ed hissed out a few blocks later. The warmth of the street air was stifling enough that he draped his dark jacket over his metal shoulder and arm, and he was beginning to think that the undershirt was nearly too warm a thing to be wearing.
"Winry?"
"No, someone else.. and... she's by that cart there." Ed replied, and picked up the pace of his walk. The street had easily three dozen carts amassed about the center of the street, and that was this street alone. Some had colorful umbrellas providing shade, and others little more than a patchwork for a tent. Most had crowds of automailists about them, shouting to be heard over the general din of so many bodies in so small of a space.
Ed heard a distinct lack of creaking clanks behind him, and he looked over his right shoulder as he added in an irritated tone. "C'mon Al."
The armor trembled a moment, and the glowing embers within the helm wavered, flickered in a way that had Ed holding his breath. It was almost like... like…
The armor straightened up, and sort of shiver scraped all of the plates together at once. The eyes glowed strongly once more.
…Like a light bulb that was near the end of its use.
"My papers giving you trouble?" Ed asked, and Al's glowing eyes widened slightly.
"Hmm... Oh! No Brother. Not at all." The armor replied in the high child-like echo of a voice, spreading gauntlet fingers over the lower area of the chest plate. Ed dismissed his concern as soon as Al took a noisy step forward.
He watched as his brother took another step, just to be sure, before turning his attention to the dark skinned, and curvy, teenaged girl standing near the café's window display. He stopped walking just within arm's length, and breathed in deep. The girl was speaking to one of the café's patrons at the moment, leaning over and allowing the fellow to look at more than the card she held out by the tips of her fingers.
"Remember me?" Ed said, and folded his arms. As she turned, he saw that the cut of her dull leather worker's apron had been changed since he saw her last. There was a slit in the leather now, ah, located quite strategically, and he kept his gaze above her ample bosom with some effort. He felt one of his eyes twitch as his cheeks burned. "I didn't catch the name…"
His voice cracked at his attempt at the word "name", and he swallowed.
"Bernice." She said smoothly, and added with a single lifted brow. "Bernice Gilderstine."
"...Of your employer. Last time." He finished lamely, in the higher octave. He coughed and quickly cleared his throat.
"Have you by any chance had a change of heart regarding my employer's...?" Bernice said in a low husky voice. "…services?"
"I've decided to speak with him, yes."
The corners of her lips stretched enough for her pearly white teeth to show. One of her front teeth was either crooked or missing entirely, he wasn't quite sure.
"Now then. Which cart is his?" He snapped as he waved vaguely about with a free gloved hand.
"Follow me."
He used the time to look about as he really did not want to speak with this girl. On this side of the street there were a quite a few flat boards covering the shop windows, and some of the rest had this brown stuff that looked like packing paper hiding the displays. He recalled that the last time he was here, those shops were busy ones, and he lowered his brows at the disconcerting contrast. The street venders at this time definitely had more of the share of business.
Not that it really concerned him, nor did he really care. He knew he needed some maintenance done on Winry's work, and the very best person to do that, convenient for these vendors, wasn't here.
"Brother... what are you doing..?" He heard Al say. He slowed his pace enough to allow the armor to walk beside him.
"Checking something out. " He said vaguely.
"I really hope you're not thinking of letting someone else lay a finger your automail..." Al began, and Ed waved his left fingers over his shoulder as his brows lowered in irritation. Before he could say anything more, the curvy girl waved at a particularly wrinkled up guy sitting on a wooden chair. Ed spared a glance at the generally purple tent, and the many odd colored collections of patches about the tough fabric. It was shaped very much like a cube, with a single point rising high at the middle, and three of the four sides were composed of a solid wall of the patchy canvas. The final side faced the business end of the street, and was split from the top to the bottom in the very center, forming serviceable flaps which in turn were tied off with a strip of fabric. He could see that there were wooden chairs, at least, set at the entrance, and both were currently occupied.
The guy didn't wave back as his hands were busy. His head was bent over the set of metal toes in his lap, which happened to still be attached the fat automailist who occupied the chair beside him.
"You sound just like Winry." Ed complained as he waited. He glanced up at the helm. "Don't worry so much…"
"You worry too little." Al interrupted with a huff. Or was it that he sighed? Al moved his helm from side to side, and Ed decided that meant the sound was definitely a "huff" when the arms folded before the breastplate.
".. And you don't tell me everything." Al continued. "Look. I know you're limping. You need the maintenance done, and soon, but I don't like this, Brother. I don't want Winry hurt."
"Al..." Ed said in a whine.
Al glanced over to the merchant sitting in the chair, and then looked back at Ed before he continued on in a softer voice. "Just... promise me that you'll at least think carefully about what you're doing. Ok Brother?"
"Uh...ok..?" Ed said softly, not really understanding just what he was agreeing to. Was Alphonse pissed at him?
Ed's brows skewed as he watched Al turn and bow a polite greeting towards the seated fellow. The armor then clanked away to the coffee house door, and what else he did Ed didn't know. He glanced over at the merchant and frowned a long moment as he thought over his brother's behavior.
"Hey there Bern..." The automailist waved with his pudgy fingers on one hand and a wide dopey grin plastered upon his flabby face. The merchant's balding head nodded and Ed could see his piecing blue eyes darting up beyond the confines of the dark glasses perched upon his bulbous nose. Those eyes widened a fraction of a heartbeat later.
" What the ..?!Bernie! The hell're ya..." The merchant sputtered over his client's casual greeting. He looked once over at Ed before he waved a free arm behind him. "Cover that up.! Go on."
Bernice, or Bernie, or whatever they called her folded her arms, and Ed could only imagine the expression she had on her face as the man added in a lower hiss. "What kinda place do ya think I'm running here girl..?"
"You tell me. You're the one that hired me...to... to ..." Her voice dwindled to nearly nothing and Ed took a step forward, wondering if he would have to step in. He swallowed in his discomfort, as he was sure as the Gate that he heard tears beginning to fall from that wavering pitch of a girl voice. He glanced to Bernice's face quickly for confirmation of his fears.
"..Get clients." She finished in a squeak. Her cheeks were flushed, but thankfully dry. As she glanced at him, her brows lowered, and he quickly turned his attention to the metal toes on the man's lap instead.
It wasn't his business, he decided. It really wasn't. Whatever was happening here, it did not concern him. No, not at all.
"Not that way. Never. That way. Alright? Just... Go on." The man said softly to her. Ed listened to the crunching of her footsteps as he pretended to count as many of the missing screws he could in the shoddy flanges. He did manage to notice a crack or two that Winry would have snorted at in disgust just as someone cleared their throat rather noisily.
"Now... how can I be of service to you, young sir?" Ed heard the man say.
"I need you to answer some questions of mine." Ed said as he turned his attention back to the man. He fingered his watch chain attached to his wide belt as he wondered if he should make use of the symbol etched in the silver. Pulling rank wouldn't really work here, he supposed after some length. He grinned widely instead.
"Looks like you managed to carve out a good set up here…" The man huffed out and began fiddling again with the fat man's toes. Ed continued. "There's an awful lot of these nice regular shops closed up and..."
"Yeah. Hell of a thing, aint it?" The man said sharply. "Good for my business, and speaking of which…" The fat man hollered out a, "HEY OW!", when the screwdriver began twisting at the ankle. Ed winced in sympathy as the man continued calmly. "..are you here to add to it or are you gonna keep up with that yappin of yours?"
Ed let the grin slip off of his face as his brows lowered; it was faked to begin with anyway.
"How about…this." Ed said. "I fix up your tent there, and in exchange, you tell me all of what you know about Rush Valley's very best automail mechanics going missing."
The man glanced back in his direction, with lowered brows.
"Brother! "Ed heard the voice of his brother echoing off of the empty store fronts, and turned his head. The suit of armor clutched what looked like a newspaper in one gauntlet as the metal arm it was attached to swung high in the air.
Ed turned fully and tilted his chin to the side as Al clamored his way. In moments the newspaper unfurled and Ed freely gave his brother his full attention. He didn't even notice that he was not the only one listening in until the merchant rather nosily cleared his throat.
"Oh… That guy…" The merchant drawled. "Stiffed me a payment a few years back…"
Ed narrowed his eyes.
ooooo
Golden light of shined beyond the crevice, and if he was any judge of color at all, the scant bit of sky he could see through that crack in the rock looked mightily orange, too. That meant hours had passed on this waste of a journey, and... and here he was, still waiting.
For Bald.
He let the brows on his borrowed features scowl as he turned his attention back to the squalor of a cave. Or rather a series of caves, all of them connected together in something like a rat's warren; Envy should know from the amount of times he had to take that beast's form to perform his tasks on behalf of Father. He couldn't give a rat's behind about the wagon load of that stupid ass coffee, but he had to speak with this Bald guy in the flesh.
Father wished to make his will known to the guy, after all.
He leaned back against the cave wall and chewed the inside of his manufactured cheek, an act he had observed humans doing thousands of times. This particular room reeked of human waste and bodily fluids, which he found ghastly to endure while using this form's, albeit thankfully limited, scent organs. He stared at a woman, no; it was a girl, with long blond hair. This thing—girl- was trussed up with rope and all, and so far, she squirmed about on her belly on the rocks of the far side of the cavern. Not a single sentry seemed to notice as she inched her way, worm like, a good yard or so along the ground.
Human worm! Ha! He had to remember that one.
He heard a bunch of bangs and thumps, and in response, he let out some air through his nose. He worked out where the noise had come from, of course. The wagon. His wagon, rather. He was no Greed and he certainly didn't stupidly obsess over things, but he had a part to play while he stood in this borrowed form.
Conveniently, a dark shadow blocked the light of the sky, and seconds later, the trussed up body of the fat coffee merchant flopped just past the crevice. His true eyes were far superior to a human's in this dim light, so he had no trouble at all with picking out the details. Envy tilted his head as he admired the rather glistening wet quality of the dark red liquid pouring from the weeping wounds in the rotund torso. Pouring, not gushing. He knew that meant that the insect's heart had stopped pumping.
Oh drat. How utterly. Dreadful. He supposed that his current disguise was officially useless, now. If he had a heart, he doubted it would be broken over that particular revelation.
At the same time, he heard the girl gasp out a rather horrified squeak.
"Who are you?" Envy heard a baritone voice demand from just beyond the crevice. He didn't bother with the fallacy of blinking as the man he was waiting for finally stepped within his presence.
Bald took several long steps, and stopped just beyond this form's reach. The man towered over Envy this way, for the coffee merchant was not exactly a tall guy. An eye patch covered nearly half the rebel leader's pockmarked face, and his black greasy hair was pulled back into a rather tight pony tail at the base of his skull. Not that Envy cared, but the guys also happened to have a hell of a lot in the way of muscle mass, especially when compared to the flabby skin job he currently inhabited.
"An associate..." Envy said with considerable irritation in his borrowed voice. "Of your current benefactor. You didn't think you got out of prison so soon on your own, now did you? Good, then, you're not as stupid as I thought. Anyhow, he'd really rather you call him your new employer."
"Emplo…" Bald gasped, and stepped back as Envy let a little discharge flare out from his stone. The red lightening danced up from his toes and made considerable changes along the way to the top of his head.
"Excuse me while I make myself more comfortable." Envy sneered, choosing his favored form from all the available possibilities. He placed his more reasonable, and cute, sized fingers upon his currently narrow hips as he added, "Before we conduct our mutual business matters."
"What... Are you..." Bald whispered, and pointed the metal mess attached to his shoulder in Envy's direction. Envy narrowed his eyes; he was not amused by the barrel roughly aimed at his much nicer looking head. He rather liked his long green colored hair—it was fashionable.
"That doesn't concern y- …" Envy began.
"Grab her and get her out of the way." Bald yelled over his head. "MOVE!"
Envy raised a brow as, out of nowhere, two of the insects, (no wait, they were there all this time, guarding and "sentrifying"), grabbed the blond girl and lifted her up. She cried out and squirmed of course, like a human would. "
"Huh. I don't get it. Why's she so important to you, anyway?"
"She's the best automail mechanic in Rush Valley, that's why." Bald supplied. "I want the best before..."
"Yeahhhh, whatever. " Envy waved an idle hand over his shoulder. "Look, the time table's changed. Father wants you to be..."
"..Father…?"
"…on your way there you have to go..." Envy saw that the barrel of what he supposed was a gun of some sort hadn't even moved down a single inch. "Are you even paying attention to what I'm telling you, dimwit?"
Now that he looked at the man, he saw a rather grim sort of frown on that strong jawed face. He heard the slightest of clicks from that contraption pointed at his head before a deafening—even for his far superior ears—
oooo
Boom!
A blinding flash of blue and the stink of ozone followed the sound, and a second later, the huge pile of rocks beside the wagon shifted. The discharge was dancing up the sheer cliff, as the rat-tat of gunfire zinged. Ed limp-ran, bent over close to the ground. As his opening volley of a transmutation took effect, rock jutted upward from the dirt and dust, covering his movements. He dove and rolled beneath the wagon just as the last spike punched through the wooden side. He crouched low for a moment, and looked into the crevice of the cave system he knew was within the rocky wall.
He knew these badlands. And he knew this cave system. After all, he was the one that created it, months back, making these stupid obstacles in attempt after attempt to catch an annoyance of a thief. He did not bother to clean up after himself then, and that was his mistake. But, as it made tracking these rebels a cinch, he could forgive himself.
He knew not that many people lived here for a good reason. There were neither stores nor markets about up here, and any sort of group needed supplies to live.
And wagons and carts left these deep, easy to follow tracks in the dry loose soil.
He lowered his brows as he saw his target.
It was Bald alright, standing there, looking over his shoulder at him. He even had that same stupid automail assembly attached to the port at his shoulder. Or at the very least, a similar and likely just as cheap ass of a model.
Bald turned. Ed didn't wait for the man to do much else before he went into motion himself. He slapped his palms together, looking as if he were in prayer as his hands hovered before his chin.
"So it's you again." Bald called out, "Die."
He heard the deafening rat-tat of bullets being fired once again, but Ed had ducked his head down as the transmutation went into effect. He didn't feel any searing blood boiling pain, and just realized he had squeezed his eyes closed. So, he just figured he was bullet free, and thus well enough together to crack his eyes open. He saw the transmutation completing itself, wrapping the rock walls about Bald's body, and climbed to his feet. He darted his gaze upwards just beyond the cover of the wagon, but didn't spot the goon up there this time. The angle to shoot down this close to the rock wall would be awkward, but not impossible.
He chanced it anyway, dash-limping the scant foot or two to safety inside the stupid cave. Bald, or rather the material encasing Bald's body, took up much of the entrance way. He could tell the creep was alive, for he had calculated to keep the man's face uncovered. The man swore up and down and through all gutters in the world, which suited Ed just fine. So long as the guy would talk.
He had people to locate, and Bald would know where they were kept.
He glanced around the pillar of Bald to the rest of the cave system, and lowered his brows. He saw the bodies of two men lying still, and between them was a blond-haired girl, all tied up with rope. She was wiggling, and squeaking, and he figured some movement was good. It meant whoever it was over there was alive. She lifted her head and Ed saw the watery twin blue eyes he knew nearly was well as his own.
"Winry?" Ed said as he bolted towards her without much more thought. He saw that the two beside her were bloody, with a hole or two each in the heart area of the chest. He noticed they were making the gurgling sounds only recently dead bodies made, and he grimaced as he glanced for more movements deeper in the cave system. The dark was really making that task difficult.
"Well well. Fancy meeting you here." A sneering voice echoed about him, and he scrambled to a stop just short of touching Winry. The voice continued, "..the Fullmetal Pipsqueak."
"WHO'RE YOU CALLING SO SHORT THAT A SAND FLEA COULD CRUSH HIM!" Ed roared into the darkness. The voice. That cruel voice. His mind whirled, trying to place where he had heard that voice before. His eye lids narrowed as he stared uselessly into the dark, willing his eyes to adjust. He heard cruel mocking laughter next, and he turned about, trying his best to place where the freak was.
"What are you doing here… Huh? With Rebels of all things. What does this have to do.. is this part of this plan of yours? Are they sacrifices too?"
"Ohhh..so many questions…tsk tsk…"
There was a hint of blur, and he did his best to dodge. The laughter rang out again, and this time, it was shockingly near. Winry was whimpering, and he glanced her way just as the freak was lifting her up off the cave floor with one hand fisted in the tangle of ropes.
"Envy." Ed snarled as he slapped his hands together and smoothly brushed his fingers over his right arm. The blue lightening of discharge flashed lit up the cave as his forearm guard extended out like sword toward the homunculus. "Let. Her. Go."
"Oh. That's precious." Envy sneered, and looked down his nose at Winry a moment. "Let me guess. She's the one that works on your automail, is that right?"
"What's it to you?"
Or at least that's what Ed would have yelled out had it not been for the ominous rumbling that rolled though the ground. Sand rained down and dusted the three of them as Ed took a cautious step to the side. Envy stepped away in kind, still holding Winry aloft as he darted a glance over his shoulder.
Ed heard another rumble, glanced to Winry, and dashed forward just as the homunculus moved again. He dove into a frantic left hand spring, narrowly dodging Envy's sudden kick. As he landed, Ed swung a sweeping low kick at the freak, and spun around to his feet.
Envy leaped out of reach with a cackle. The homunculus performed a graceful handspring that was followed by another high graceful handspring, and soon enough vanished into the dark.
As angry as he was, Ed nearly charged after the chortling freak, but suddenly stopped and widened his eyes.
Winry.
The walls were crumbling all around, all according to plan. There was no way he was going to allow something he had created to be used as a base for thievery and kidnappings and who knew what else.
But Winry…
She was lying in the dirt. Alone, and still tied up.
Envy knew this. He had to. The homunculus was playing with him, and what was the most disturbing, he was winning. Ed couldn't let Winry be crushed to death. There was no way he would ever allow that. He wouldn't be able to live with himself if he did.
He spun about and dove to her side, quickly cutting through a number of the bindings with his arm sword. As he pulled and tugged on the ropes in something like a frenzy of movement, the dust from the destruction billowed about them both, too thick to see, much less breathe. Blue lightening flashed and discharge danced as he coughed his airway clear. He felt rather than saw Winry climb to her feet, and knew when she staggered, uncertain. He reached out a hand to her shoulder, and guided her along, and then down.
ooooo
"Brother…?" He heard Al's echoing voice. It was muffled, and sounded somewhere above him. He wondered how that could be since there was a warm body tucked against his at the moment. He blinked in his confusion, and couldn't tell if his eyes were open or closed. It was so, very dark, where ever he was.
Oh, that's right.
Winry. Her breath was like feathers brushing against his neck, and yet, her elbows were digging into his ribs. He tried his best not to think about how close she was to him, and swallowed down his nervousness. If he could hear Alphonse up there, then the surface had to be close. He brushed his palms together. The first transmutation freed more oxygen from the silicon in the sandstone, and he took the time to breathe it in. The second, he used to move the minerals above his head.
He blinked stupidly at the blinding light, and cracked a grin at the empty suit of armor towering over the lip of his hole.
"Sorry, brother." Alphonse said, rubbing one hand behind his head. " I kind of overdid my part of the plan. The rebels all got buried and..."
"I- Is everyone ok..?" Winry asked.
"Hi Winry!" Alphonse said cheerfully, and rambled together a reply. "Um.. I.. think so..? I kind of made everything sand, and parts that weren't were make into pure liquid silicone. Oh. And I found the missing automail mechanics. They were kept together with most of the rebel guys and they... "
"Oh.. that's good. Hi back, Al." Winry replied, and reached a hand up. Al easily lifted her, and for that Ed was thankful. He rubbed at his aching ribs once she was out, and moments later crawled himself up. Just as he sat down at the lip of his hole, he was bowled over by hard blow on the back of his head. He clutched his hands over the injury as he hissed, and glanced about for the source.
After all, Envy could still be around, even with this much of a mess made of the rebel's former base. He found the pillar of Bald still standing in the distance, roughly behind Al's armor. Al would not be the one to hit him, at least not in that way, which left only one person within reach to have struck him.
Winry.
"How dare you. Take such dangerous risks. With my automail.." He heard Winry thunder. Just as he took in a breath to yell right back at the crazy not cute machine freak, a pair of arms, oh so human arms, wrapped tightly about his middle in such a way that his breath was knocked out of him once again. With her cheek press hard against his chest, Ed could only look down helplessly as Winry shook with emotion. He glanced up at Al's glowing red soul eyes, and found he could say nothing at all. His face burned too much.
"Thank you." He heard Winry breathe, and as he lightly patted her back with both of his hands, he knew that he would never, ever understand girls at all.