AN: I've always loved the Eddie/Rose friendship, and the Sydney/Rose and Eddie/Sydney as well. I guess it occurred to me that the last time Rose really had a conversation with Sydney (aside from the wedding, where Sydney had to do a lot of pretending), Sydney was still that scared, stand-offish Alchemist. I kind of had the idea: how does Rose find out about "new" Sydney, and how does she get on board with busting her out. And then, I don't know. This happened.
It had only been a few days since the crew who'd been stationed in Palm Springs had returned to Court after Lissa had finally managed to fix the one family member law. They'd been sleeping at odd hours as they tried to return to their normal, nocturnal schedule, so Rose hadn't seen much of them.
She was walking up to Guardian HQ, though, when she saw a forlorn figure sitting on a bench alone, face in hands. She recognized him.
He didn't seem to notice her as she approached, which was sign enough that something was very wrong. Only when she carefully sat down next to him did he glance up at her. He didn't seem startled, and she wondered if she'd been mistaken about whether or not he'd noticed her.
"Eddie," she said quietly. He just shook his head at her. "Aren't you tired?" The dark circles under his eyes were astounding.
"I can't sleep," he said. "I just keep… worrying."
"About Jill?" Rose asked. "Because she'll be fine now that— " she stopped when he shook his head. "Then what?"
Eddie heaved a sigh, looking tormented. "Sydney," he said. Rose crinkled her eyebrows.
"I heard she'd been reassigned or something. Believe me, I felt so bad when she was in trouble with the Alchemists for helping me last summer, but…" She waved her hand in his direction. "This? I know you, and this is about more than that."
Eddie was shaking his head again. "No, no. You don't understand, Rose. The Alchemists, they're not like the Guardians. They don't just stick you behind a desk when you misbehave."
Rose leaned toward him. "What are you talking about?" she asked quietly.
"God, even if Adrian hadn't told us what they're planning for her—there was practically a whole army of them. They had guns, they… and they didn't even know I was going to be there. That was all just for her"
"What?" she breathed. "Guns?" Eddie nodded.
After a moment, Rose registered something else he'd said.
"You were there? You tried to keep them from taking her?" Eddie nodded again, looking miserable. He buried his face in his hands once more.
Suddenly this made a lot more sense. Eddie might not have known Sydney very well, but he was nothing if not a protector of the weak. Human, skin-and-bones Sydney, terrified of vampires and lacking both supernatural strength and badass Moroi magic, was about as fragile as they came. And he hadn't been able to save her.
Eddie was one of the best Guardians Rose knew, but he had also lost a lot of people, and he'd been hardened because of it. Mason, their senior year. Jill, just a few months ago. And now Sydney.
Something else registered for her then, something he'd said earlier.
"Wait, 'what they're planning for her?' What are they planning for her?"
Eddie dragged his hands down his face. "Nothing good." At Rose's confused look, he elaborated. "I went with her to meet this.. this rebel Alchemist guy. Marcus. He told us about some of the stuff the Alchemists have been up to. Did you know they've been working with the Warriors of Light? Or, at least some of them." Rose's jaw dropped. "The Alchemists are bad news, Rose."
"Oh my gosh," she said. "That's... wha—"
"They're worse to their own members, though. Brainwashing, torture... I don't even want to imagine it. Not to mention compulsion in those freaking tattoos."
"Compulsion?" Eddie nodded, rubbing his eyes wearily.
"Yeah, that was the biggest news this rebel guy had. He had some way to break the compulsion, but he said they could always just re-do it if they caught her." Rose watched him, wide-eyed.
"Oh my gosh." Eddie nodded at her astonishment. "But why? What is she even being punished for? I thought she was helping you guys out a lot?"
"That was the problem," Eddie said, sighing. "She got too close to us. Did you know the Alchemists have rules about that?"
"I mean," Rose said, astounded, "I knew they don't like us, but... "
"Yeah. Not to mention she started trying to find out all their secrets." Rose shook her head slowly, trying to comprehend.
"That... that doesn't sound like Sydney at all. She hates us. I mean, I've always considered her a friend, but... "
"She changed," Eddie said simply. "She changed a lot. She was reluctant at first but now... now, she really cares about us."
"And you care about her," Rose said softly. Eddie only nodded.
"You've gotta understand what it was like there. I mean, we were all playing siblings, so we had to at least pretend to like each other. And maybe at first she thought we were gross or scary or whatever but... we ended up being friends."
Rose didn't say anything. They were silent for a moment, and then Eddie spoke again. "Maybe this sounds crazy to you, but... sometimes it felt like she and I were actually brother and sister."
"You're right, that does sound crazy," Rose said, sitting up a little straighter. "That doesn't sound like the Sydney I know at all."
"Like I said, she's changed a lot."
"And you think she's really in trouble?"
"She is," he said, straightening up. "For helping us. For caring about us. She shouldn't be punished for that."
"No, she shouldn't," Rose said, quietly.
"I have to do something, Rose. It's my fault they've got her in the first place."
"Hey, no it's not," she said rubbing his shoulder with her hand.
"No, it is. I was there, Rose. I was so stupid, I just let her go running back to them."
"What?"
"She tricked me. She tricked me into leaving her behind. That's how much she cared. I was so stupid."
Rose sighed. "That was a brave thing for her to do, to give herself up for you like that. It doesn't make this your fault, though."
"I'm a Guardian, though. She's just a person; she might brave and genius-level smart and be able to make fire with her hands—"
"What?"
"—but it's my job to protect her. Not the other way around." He looked up at Rose, then, eyes pleading. "You understand, don't you?" Slowly, Rose nodded. "I just... I can do something. I can find her and save her. Not like before."
He didn't elaborate, but Rose knew what he meant. Not like before, when Mason was just dead. Not like before, when Jill was just dead, and it was only the most random stroke of luck that Adrian was able to heal her. She knew Eddie, and even if he hadn't been through everything that he had, he would've had to do something for Sydney. That was just who he was.
"I'll help," Rose said, tucking hair behind her ear. "I like Sydney, you know I do. And she helped me out a lot last summer. Now I guess she's paying for it." Eddie nodded thoughtfully. "Whatever you need, I'll help."
Eddie stood up, looking a lot more energized than he should've given the dark circles under his eyes. Rose followed as he started moving purposefully toward the royal housing.
"Where are you going?"
"I have an idea," he said. "I just need to go fill Adrian in."
He was walking briskly ahead of her, and Rose broke into a jog to keep up.
Once again, she didn't register his words until a moment later.
"Wait. Adrian?" Eddie paused and turned to her.
"I keep forgetting you don't know about any of this."
"Any of what? What on earth are you talking about?"
For the first time since he'd been back at Court, Rose saw Eddie smile. Well, smirk really.
"I'll let him tell you."
AN: I just want to mention that just now at this very moment it occurred to me that this title is remarkably similar to one of my other oneshots for a different fandom (called Someone So Fragile) but I'm enough in love with this title that I'm not going to change it.