Title: A Life for a Life
Author: drummerdancer
Verse: First Anime
Characters/Pairings: Edward, Shou Tucker, Alphonse
Word Count: 250
Prompt 243: Red
Rating: K+
Summary: He was a monster. A murderer.
"You don't really think you're any different from me, do you Ed?"
He saw red.
Anger swelled inside his chest, then parted down the middle as his face appeared. Her father. The Sewing-Life Alchemist.
A monster.
A murderer.
A metal fist flew, aimed directly for the side of his face. The man fell, his glasses falling askew as his lip bled, his cheek beginning to swell a dark purple. None of these factors made him pause, though, but rather egged him on, encourage him to keep throwing punches, to gain some retribution for what he'd done to Nina.
Gain retribution? Nah. This was equivalent exchange.
He ruined Nina's life, so Ed would ruin his. A life for a life.
Equivalent Exchange.
Except...
"Brother! You'll kill him."
The ringing of his brother's voice stopped his movement. The hollow, empty sound of the armor...that reminder...
That's right...
A life for a life had never been equivalent. Not since the day their father walked out. Not since the day their mother died. Not since that night, when shit had finally hit the fan for real, and their bodies had been mangled beyond recognition in different ways.
He couldn't do this. He couldn't kill Tucker.
"I'm not like you!"
Because if he did this, if he took Tucker's life as payment for the destruction of Nina's, didn't that make him just like him?
A monster.
A murder.
The sound of military boots echoed in the doorway.
He had never been so grateful.