Title: To the Last Breath
Author: Yorokobi Asahi
Summary: While Mustang's team is searching for a rogue alchemist, Havoc gets an echo that suspicious men were seen in a nearby forest. Mustang, Havoc and Edward come to investigate. They have no idea they walked right into a trap.
Characters: Edward E., Roy M., Jean H.
Genre: Adventure/Friendship
Rating: T
Warning: Blood, some language
Includes: Hints of Parental!RoyEd
Does not include: No yaoi
Timeline: Brotherhood universe. Before first episode.
Thanks: To JRaylin441 for beta-reading
Disclaimer: Fullmetal Alchemist belongs to Hiromu Arakawa. No profits were made.
„Being strong is not only about strength, but about keeping fighting when you are weak"
Chapter 1
"So what're you looking for?" asked Havoc as he lit another cigarette. He stood at the entrance to a relatively large cave in the woods and stared at the sky. Even when the sun couldn't be seen over all the trees, the slightly orange glow was still evident indicating that the day was slowly coming to end.
"We'll know it when we find it" replied the Fullmetal Alchemist without even trying to hide the annoyance in his voice. The older soldier only smiled at that. He could hear the boy complaining about unnecessary interruption in his research all the way here. He and his brother had brought some interesting books from their last mission and the young alchemist wasn't pleased at all that he had to let them be for the time being and go help Colonel Mustang with his assignment.
"Anything related to alchemy or otherwise suspicious." added Mustang while examining closely one stone wall of the cave. Not that Havoc had any idea how he could find something related to alchemy this way but he didn't comment it; he wasn't an alchemist after all. Actually, he didn't have any idea how to recognize anything related to alchemy, except a transmutation circle. Well, that was what the two alchemists were here for, right?
So there they were, a few miles away from the East City, in the middle of a wood, looking for anything suspicious in some old cave. Havoc could think of a hundred things that he would rather be doing on a night like this. But work comes first, unfortunately. And with this little terrorist group they had to deal with, he could probably look forward to more unpleasant evenings and long nights like this.
There was always someone not happy with the current government (or rather, the lack of it) and the military regime. Usually it was some unimportant political group that was just and complaining and nothing more. But from time to time someone appeared who didn't like to be ignored and usually used the wrong way to get attention. Like a terrorist attack. About two weeks ago there had been some skirmishes in the East City but nothing big. Nobody thought much about it and aside from a regular arrest warrant the military didn't pay attention to it. Until a bomb exploded at the train station two days ago. Three civilians and one soldier had been killed, several other people injured. Upon closer examination it was discovered that the bomb was made with alchemy and thanks to the political group who claimed it was their doing the military had a good lead on who the alchemist might be. Colonel Mustang was given a direct order to find and arrest the man and anyone who might be helping him. With his whole team on the case it was just matter of time, or so Mustang promised to his superiors.
Today Havoc was given information that suspicious men were seen repeatedly in the woods north from East City and some witness led him to this cave. Havoc himself couldn't find anything suspicious here; but because he wasn't an alchemist he reported back to the colonel and asked him to check it out himself. Mustang decided to take Edward with him because he was a skilled alchemist too; although he didn't use these exact words when he ordered the teen to go. So there they were.
The younger alchemist made a few steps into the darkness of the cave and turned to his superior with a scowl. "Why don't you make yourself useful for once and give me some light here?"
"What do you think I am?" barked Mustang. "A torch?"
The boy only smirked at that. "That isn't a bad idea."
"You know," replied the colonel, "I could accuse you of insubordination."
"For what?" asked Edward lazily while eyeing the ceiling of the cave.
"Suggesting that your superior officer is a torch."
"You said that, not me."
"You're not going to win this one, Fullmetal."
"And why's that?"
"Because I can always pull rank." smirked the older alchemist.
Ed's brow twitched. "Bastard!"
"And you're running out of arguments, too." continued Mustang as he walked deeper into the cave. "Actually, I think the extent of your arguments was always rather short."
"Who're you calling so short he can be mistaken for a baby?!"
Havoc just smiled. You could count on these two anytime. Let them be together for five minutes and they'll be at each other's throats. At least it was some excitement in this boring evening.
He threw the smoked cigarette on the ground and damped it down with his boot. When he lifted his leg and walked away, he noticed something unusually bright on the dirt covered ground. He kicked more dirt off of the dark stones and confirmed his suspicion.
"Boss!" he called to his superior. "I think I've found something!"
Both alchemists looked back at the soldier as he uncovered more of the transmutation circle. Then Edward's eyes widened in horror. With three quick steps he was next to the older man and shouted:
"Get away from it!"
The teen grabbed Havoc's arm and pulled him away from the circle but it was too late. The circle was now completely uncovered and Havoc stepped on it one last time. There was a bright light and the ground began to tremble. The three men stumbled a few steps deeper into the cave before they fell to the ground. There was a loud cracking sound and a deafening roar of falling stones. And then nothing.
Silence. Everything stopped moving. Mustang opened his eyes. Nothing. Of course, he thought. If the entrance collapsed completely, the cave would be pitch black. He heard a pained groan next to him.
"Everyone alright?" he asked while checking for his own injuries. To his relief he found none, except a few bruises.
Again he heard a groan, which he now clearly recognized as Havoc's.
"Havoc, you okay?" the colonel asked again as he got to his knees, trying to find the man in the dark. He could make some light of course but didn't want to waste oxygen with fire if it wasn't necessary.
"Yeah, in one piece at least," Havoc grunted. "Back hurts."
"Anything broken?" Mustang finally found his subordinate but didn't want to move him yet.
"Don't think so." said the soldier as he slowly sat up. "Just one hell of a bruise." He slowly made some movements testing his back and sighed. "I'm alright."
"Fullmetal?" the colonel shouted. "Answer me!"
"I'm fine." said Edward but his voice was strained. "Just hard to talk."
"What do you mean?"
"Stuck." he replied simply. The two adults could hear him breathing heavily.
Mustang decided he needed to see what was going on and snapped, using alchemy to get a fire going. His eyes widened in shock. There was a wall of stones where the entrance had once been; luckily staying in place instead of falling on them. And the reason was Edward, leaning against one large boulder, with his automail arm outstretched to support another stone. Ed's flesh arm was outstretched as well to help distribute the weight and support the boulder, but from elbow down it hung limp and bloody. Ed was half standing, half kneeling, his head hung down and slightly panting.
"Fullmetal..." Mustang whispered.
"What the... chief!" shouted Havoc and got to his feet, wincing. Eyes wide, he looked over Edward and the stone wall and shivered slightly at the thought that without the young alchemist, he would be buried under the mass of stones, probably dead. The kid had just saved his life.
"How can you even hold that much weight?" the young soldier asked in disbelief.
"He's not holding all the weight," said the colonel as he stood up as well, his calm back. "Most of its weight is directed right down by gravity, and these few large boulders hold the whole thing in place. The structure mostly holds on its own. Fullmetal's only supporting it so it won't fall. You could say he's a skid."
"Sounds nice when you say it like that," grunted Ed. "It's still damn hard to hold."
"I don't doubt that, considering your small stature," smirked Mustang.
The teen tried to answer, but his breath hitched. His legs shifted slightly and he grimaced. "Shut up!" his voice was strained.
The older alchemist stopped smirking. This wasn't something to joke about. The position his subordinate was in was clearly uncomfortable and he could see the boy's legs tremble. Ed was half kneeling and it had to be putting a lot of strain on his legs. Roy didn't doubt that the teen was strong, and automail could really help in a situation like this, but everybody has their limits. They had to do something about it or he wouldn't last much longer.
"Put something... I can lean on... under my knees," said Edward, putting words to his thoughts.
The two adults looked around the cave. There were still a lot of loose stones, so they shifted some of them under the boy's knees. To their relief he relaxed and his panting eased.
"Thanks," he whispered.
"Still," said Havoc, "that can't be very comfortable."
"It isn't," agreed the young alchemist, smiling. "But now it's much better."
"Well," the colonel was once again looking around their temporary prison, "you can't stay like that forever. Which means, Havoc, we have to find a way out."
"But how're we gonna free the chief?" asked the soldier.
Mustang frowned. "We're in the middle of a wood. If we get out, I can transmute some wooden poles and put them in his place."
"I see. I suppose you can't use alchemy here to magically solve our little problem?"
"Who're you calling little?" muttered Edward but he was ignored this time.
"Not without risking another collapse." answered the older alchemist.
Havoc nodded and the two adults walked deeper into the cave. It didn't take them long to reach the end though. There was nothing there, just stones, dust and a bundle of sticks, which indicated that someone was indeed using the cave. Mustang took one of the sticks and lit it on fire. Now that they had a torch, there was no need for Mustang to keep up his alchemy.
"Don't think this is the way out." noted the lieutenant.
"No." agreed the colonel as he looked around. "And we don't know how deep we are, so transmuting the walls is out of the question."
"Which means the only way out is the blocked entrance."
"Exactly."
The two soldiers returned to the entrance and examined the stone wall, after putting their makeshift torch between two stones on the ground so they had free hands.
"I think," said Edward, breathing heavily, "that the alchemist we're dealing with had a good knowledge of geology. The bomb was not very strong but it hit in the right spot to make the whole entrance collapsed."
"Exactly what I thought." agreed Mustang. "And if the bomb wasn't that strong, that means the wall won't be very thick, hopefully."
"So we'll dig through the stones?" asked Havoc.
"That's the idea." replied the colonel. He looked again at his youngest subordinate and noticed the teen was sweating and slightly shaking. He also winced or grimaced here and there and looked like he was trying to shift his weight but couldn't.
"You okay, Fullmetal?" asked the older alchemist.
"Yeah, never better." replied the teen sarcastically. Then he winced again and bit his lip. Mustang frowned.
"It's just..." Ed continued but then gasped slightly and took a steadying breath. "The stone is far from smooth. It's just the sharp ends digging in my back. Gets annoying after a while."
"Okay," said Mustang. "We'll try to make an escape route. You think you can hold on for a few more minutes?"
"Sure," nodded the young state alchemist.
"Okay," nodded the colonel as well. Although the obvious strain on Ed's face belied his word choice, he didn't comment on it. It wasn't like he could do something about it. So he joined Havoc, who was carefully making his way through the stone wall on one side of the cave.
Edward sighed. Despite his brave words, he wasn't so sure of himself. His muscles had started hurting and it was only going to get worse. His neck was stiff but he couldn't afford to waste his strength on holding his head up. And the worst was his back, stiff and sore from the exertion. There was a sharp pain, like a bunch of knives, from the rough surface of the boulder digging into his skin. He wished he could shift. It was getting worse every minute. He felt like a hedgehog with his spines pointing the wrong way. If he managed to get out of here alive, he was going to be sore as hell tomorrow.
When he was a kid, he played the game 'who can last longer' with Al. He knew he would feel like hell long before he would quit. When you think you have no strength left, you still have half of it. He still hoped though that Mustang and Havoc would hurry up. He couldn't stand here forever. If he let go, the other two had a good chance of surviving, but Ed would be dead for sure. So he was literally holding on for his life. And he didn't like it a bit.
"There's still one thing I can't put my finger on." said Havoc. "If that baddies guessed we'd come here and their alchemist went through the trouble of positioning the mine, why to make it so weak? He could kill us all with one blow! But instead he just caused the cave-in. It was more like an earthquake than a bomb. The blow didn't even scratch us. I wonder why he did it."
"Ask him, not me," replied Mustang. "But if you want a theory, I think he didn't want it to be evident that it was alchemy what killed us. If we don't come back, somebody is going to come to look for us. If they found an alchemically created bomb and three burned corpses, it would be obvious what had happened. But if we died in a cave-in, it could be classified as an accident."
"Suspicious."
"But not impossible." countered the colonel. "And even if they knew he did it, they'd have to find evidence or they couldn't accuse him. Suspicion isn't good enough evidence."
"Well, his bad. This way we're all alive enough to put him in jail. I'm sure attempted murder of two state alchemists won't look good for him."
"It won't" agreed Mustang and glanced at his youngest subordinate. He wouldn't forgive anyone who tried to hurt one of his men. Rage built up in his chest. "And I'll make sure he regrets not killing us when he had the chance."
They continued to dig through the wall. It was a slow process. The stones were heavy and they had to move slowly so the whole thing wouldn't collapse on their heads. Despite his words, the two soldiers could see Edward's exhaustion. He was shaking all over now and his panting was getting worse. Sweat dropped down from his forehead. It had to have been more than half an hour since the cave-in and it was taking its toll on the young alchemist. And nobody knew how much more time it would take them to get through.
Suddenly there was a screeching noise. The stones shifted. Ed's head shot up and he screamed in pain. Both adults were instantly next to him but there wasn't much they could do. The boy was gasping for air and biting down his lips but groans still escaped his mouth. His small frame was trembling profusely. Blood ran down his left side where a sharp end of the boulder dug in deep between his ribs. When Havoc touched his side to examine the wound, the teen cried out again. Then his head went limp and he was gasping for air again, groaning in pain.
Mustang looked at Havoc, worry written all over his face. The soldier mirrored his expression. "The stone dug into his back and is putting too much weight on the lower rib. At this rate, the rib could break!"
"Hurry up!" the colonel pointed to the hole they had managed to create and Havoc got back to work.
Mustang looked back at his youngest subordinate. He wanted to help him but didn't dare to touch something that might make it worse.
"Fullmetal..." he said. The boy only whimpered. Roy put a reassuring hand on his flesh shoulder but earned a pained yelp, so he backed down. Ed's shaking got even worse and he was dripping with sweat and blood.
"We're doing what we can to get you out of here." Mustang reassured the teen. The only answer was a whimper again but he took it as an acknowledgement.
Edward could barely understand what the other alchemist was telling him. White hot pain engulfed his back, blinding his mind. He felt like his skin was being ripped off. His whole back burned. And the pain went deeper inside, ripping his muscles and crushing his bones. He couldn't breathe. It felt like someone had stabbed him in the back and then twisted the knife inside. He felt nauseous. His whole body was shaking and he knew it'd give up soon. I can't let go or I'm dead! I have to fight it! And he did, but an enormous weight was pushing him down. And he was losing. The world swam before his eyes and he couldn't see anything anymore.
The boulder started moving again. Mustang noticed the boy slipping. He quickly grabbed Edward's shoulders and held him in place. The teen screamed in agony but Roy didn't budge.
"Fullmetal, get a hold of yourself!" shouted the colonel but the young alchemist didn't show any reaction. He was fighting for air between his screams, his teeth clenched tightly. Mustang looked at the boy's side and his stomach clenched. As the weight of the boulder forced Ed's bone down, the gap was much bigger than the space between his other ribs. That had to hurt like hell. And what Roy was doing didn't help at all but he couldn't let go or they'd both die.
"Fullmetal, look at me!" ordered the colonel. The teen's eyes were glazed with pain but he managed to focus on his superior.
"Listen to me!" continued the man. "I'm going to hold the boulder and take some of its weight off of you but you still have to hold yourself, okay? Come on, Fullmetal! Hang on!" And when he felt the teen's muscles tighten, he slowly released his shoulders and shoved against the boulder with as much strength as he could muster.
Roy was surprised. That really was one hell of a weight. Didn't Fullmetal say that already? How the hell did he manage to hold the boulder in place with his back injured? And with his height on top of that? Even with all his strength the man wasn't able to move the boulder back. He expected that; when the stones shifted, putting it back to its original position was nearly impossible. All he could do was prevent it from moving more because not only would it hurt the teen but with every inch it leaned more into the cave, the stone became heavier. He was sure it wasn't this bad at the beginning.
If he could, the colonel would tell his young subordinate to let go and rest. There was no doubt he needed it. Mustang hated seeing him like this, but one glance at the boulders was enough for the man to realize it was too dangerous. He couldn't be sure he was holding all the weight of it or that he had his hands in a good position, because Fullmetal was still supporting it. And then there was the other boulder the teen was holding with his automail arm. No, to hold the whole thing in place someone had to be in a really good position. Ed had obviously found one or he wouldn't be standing there in the first place. Roy needed the posts from the trees outside. Every other attempt to free the teen could cause the stones to collapse and kill them all. He hated it but now he couldn't do more than lessen the weight on Ed's back.
He was happy though to see that this helped the young alchemist. He was still panting badly and shaking so hard that his automail was clanking, but at least his cries of pain eased to quiet moaning. His head was hung down again though, so Mustang couldn't see his face. It was obvious that Edward wouldn't last much longer. No doubt the boy's will was strong but his body would give up sooner or later. And all Roy could do was stay there as the time went on.
Edward didn't know what was holding him up anymore. It had to be pure will because he had no strength left in him. He was now really thankful for Mustang's help but he still felt terrible. All his muscles were burning with horrible pain. He was breathing heavily and still couldn't get enough air in his lungs, and every breath sent a sharp pain in his already burning back. He felt like the boulder was crushing his ribcage, not allowing him to breathe. It hurt so much. He was getting dizzy. His whole body tingled. Black spots appeared in the corner of his vision so he closed his eyes. Don't pass out! Don't pass out! He repeated himself over and over. It can't last much longer! He concentrated on one thing only, just holding himself up. It had to end any minute…
"I'm through!" shouted Havoc. Relief washed over the colonel.
"Come here!" he called.
"The hole isn't too big-" said the soldier as he came back to the two alchemists but Mustang stopped him.
"Doesn't matter. Come here, you've got to help him hold it. Fullmetal, listen!" he addressed his young subordinate and got a grunt in response. "I'm gonna change with Havoc. It might hurt so brace yourself, okay?"
"`kay" whispered Ed through clenched teeth.
Roy stepped aside so Havoc could get a good footing. The soldier put his hands near the colonel's and propped himself against the boulder. The older alchemist let go. During the whole exchange Edward didn't give more than a few gasps. When his hands were free, Mustang made his way quickly to their escape route. The hole was small indeed and sharp ends of the stones were sticking out everywhere. He had to move carefully so he wouldn't tear his clothing or hurt himself. As he managed to squeeze through, he ran to the nearest tree, got some chalk from his pocket and began drawing a transmutation circle.
Havoc had always respected Edward, both as an alchemist and as a person but now it came to a whole new level. He could feel with his own hands how heavy the boulder was and he probably wasn't holding all the weight; how the hell could the kid hold it for so long? All he wanted to do was spare the boy from his burden. He looked like he had already had enough. Hopefully the colonel wouldn't take too long.
"You still with me, kid?" asked the soldier. There was a grunt in response.
"Stupid question, huh?" continued the man. "I just don't want you to pass out, so I'll be babbling for a while, okay?" He took a deep breath. "I haven't thanked you for saving my life, have I? So thanks. I'd probably be dead otherwise. I still don't know how you managed to react so fast, although I'm not surprised. Everyone who works with you is used to unbelievable stunts." he chuckled. "So, when someone from the team saves my life in action, I usually buy them a drink; but you're a minor, so that's out of the question. Hot chocolate? That sounds too childish, doesn't it? What about eat-as-much-as-you-can lunch? That would fit your eating habits, right?"
Havoc didn't worry that Ed wasn't responding. He didn't expect him to. The boy had enough problems trying to get much-needed air into his lungs, let alone to speak. He hoped though that listening will help him to stay awake.
Suddenly there was a loud bang behind them and they both jerked. The older man looked around and saw a thick, two meter wooden pole rolling on the ground. Then he watched another fly through the hole he had managed to dig and hit the wall of the cave with the same bang. Three more followed, and then Mustang's head appeared in the cave.
"About time," greeted the soldier.
"How's he holding up?" asked the colonel as he squeezed through the hole.
"Could be better," replied the blond man. "But he's still standing."
"Good."
The older alchemist started positioning the poles against the stone wall; three longer somewhere upward, two shorter just above the teen's shoulders.
"Fullmetal, you hear me?" asked Mustang while he was working with the poles. He got a grunt in response again. "I need you to listen to me carefully. You'll be free in no time but you have to let go slowly, so we know it's holding in place and the whole thing won't collapse on our heads, okay? I'll guide you. When I tell you that it's okay, you can let go and I'll catch you. Understood?"
"Yeah" whispered Ed.
"Okay," said Mustang. "The poles are in place. First your automail arm. Put it down. Really slowly."
And he did. The poles creaked against the ground and they all froze. But it still held in place.
"It's okay," reassured the colonel. "Go on."
Edward slowly put his automail arm down. The poles still held steady. Roy kneeled and positioned himself in front of his subordinate. It was a little difficult with all the wooden poles and Havoc still standing there. He grabbed the teen lightly under his armpits and took a deep breath. He could feel the small body shaking violently.
"Okay. Come down. Slowly."
Ed leaned into his superior's arms and finally freed himself from the stone prison. Burning pain shot through his back and he gasped. But strong arms held him steady. He stopped just a few inches from the boulder. Nothing moved.
"It's okay, Fullmetal." said the older alchemist. "You can let go."
Edward let his body relax and collapsed into Mustang's arms. Now that he wasn't in immediate danger, his body was overwhelmed with exhaustion and pain. He could barely feel as he was dragged from under the boulder and carefully laid on his stomach. Spasms wracked his body and he winced, biting his lip to keep himself from crying out. He concentrated on his breathing. Deep breaths sent sharp pain to his back and left side so he settled for shallow ones. He was still panting but at least now he could lay and relax. He didn't think his body would obey him if he tried to move. He just laid there and breathed.
Mustang had a blond head gently positioned in his lap but his eyes couldn't move from the bloody mess which once was the boy's back. Nothing but shreds were left from Ed's clothes and the skin didn't look much better. It was badly scratched and there were several deep cuts, the worst was the one starting on his left side and going half way across his back. The edges of the wound were swollen and going from angry red to deep blue and purple. It was still bleeding, fortunately not too much. If they didn't care for it soon, though he didn't doubt the teen would suffer from blood loss.
Roy had seen a lot of injured people in his life. The worst was the war of course; but even in peaceful times there were sometimes missions where people got hurt or killed. Living the life of a soldier wasn't safe at any time. He hoped though that he'd never see Edward in pain. He cared about all his subordinates of course and hated to see them hurt, but this was something else. It was these times that reminded him that Fullmetal was still a kid. The other members of his team were adults who had chosen the military for their careers. Ed, on the other hand, had been forced into it, because how else was he going to find a way to fix his brother? And that was it; Ed didn't join the military because of himself. He did it because he had dedicated his life to his brother and finding a way to make him whole again.
And this was where it got him. Or rather, where Roy got him. He was the one who offered for him to join the military. He didn't regret it, not even now. He was still convinced it was the best option for the brothers, their only hope. But it also meant that he exposed Edward to the dangers of the life of a soldier. And in times like this he wished more than anything that he didn't have to.
Havoc, who didn't need to hold the boulder anymore, kneeled next to the teen and examined the damage. His face held a serious expression.
"It isn't as bad as it looks." the colonel assured him. "Most of it is probably superficial."
"Still has to hurt like hell." replied Havoc.
"Yeah, but hopefully he didn't suffer some serious injury. We have to-"
He was interrupted with a loud screeching noise. Both adults looked up and saw one of the poles slowly moving. Havoc leaped up and rammed it back into place. But then another one started slipping.
