The Fight
To make up for some writers block
Flame Alchemist 13
I dedicate this little idea to you
Also first time torturing someone
"Boss it ain't working the kid isn't talking"
Edward moved his head towards the voice, he couldn't see as a blindfold was placed over his eyes. His automail arm was gone the men having taken it away from him to keep him from transmuting, his remaining arm was bound above him in shackles.
From what he could feel he knew he was bound in the same way Cornello had shackled him to the wall in Loire.
This also gave his captors easier access to stab, break and needles, every time he refused to answer them.
"Well then, looks like we'll have to amp our persuasion" spoke another man.
"Or maybe if he continues the silent treatment" another man seemed to offer an idea.
Ed tried not to shudder, how had things gone so wrong?
But it wasn't like Ed had anyone to blame, not that he expected to get kidnapped!
Hell! He couldn't even blame the colonel bastard even if it was because of him that he was being questioned.
Yeah right questioning, his port was currently aching from how many things they had used trying to take his arm off.
Not to mention the bruises around his throat from when they grabbed him or when he refused to answer and purposely tried to make him talk.
He would just end up passing out.
Sometimes he swore they were either trying to break his neck or swell up his esophageal area enough for him to suffocate.
He heard footsteps as the blindfold was taken off, Ed scowled up at the man.
It was a face he had become familiar with for their last week and he wasn't telling this man anything.
Not that he knew half the things they were asking, like about how fire alchemy worked or some strange alchemy that allowed control of water.
"We ever going to contact them?" Ed didn't know who he meant, more of their goons or the military.
Maybe, after all he had been kidnapped a few times before when he first joined the military, they always tried to make deals through Mustang.
One of the few times Ed got to see the reason people feared the colonel's fire alchemy.
The man Edward had just simply called boss in his mind since that's what the other men did seemed to think the question over.
The man was bald with a scar over his right eye, his tan skin and mustache seemed familiar to him but he didn't know why, he wasn't largely built but wasn't thin either; he knew from experience that a fight with him was painful.
"Ramiro has everything fixed up for tomorrow but seeing as out little alchemist won't speak" Ed's eyes flashed at that.
"WHO YOU CALLING SO LITTLE HE COULD BE USED AS A TOOTHPICK!" this earned him a kick to the ribs as the man named Boss laughed.
As did the other men in the room feeling himself being lifted up by his braid.
He was coughing up blood again from his more than injured throat, what the screaming had done to the injured esophagus.
He gave himself more pain when hands reached for him causing him to flinch; he cursed his hair through the fear at the moment.
Despite the pain all he could think was that he was on his own, because Al wouldn't be searching for him.
Al wouldn't tell Mustang about this, though he'd find out anyway if what Boss said was true.
Because Al didn't care anymore
Because Edward was an idiot
Because Edward never could and never would forgive their father.
(1 week earlier)
"Are you crazy? Look for Hohenheim, if you think for one second that-"Edward was cut off from his angry rant as his brother yelled back.
"But he knows more about the stone than anyone brother!" yelled Alphonse as he didn't give Ed a chance to respond" why can't you ever ask for help when we need it! Why do you hate him so much Edward!?" Alphonse was angry, really angry and Ed knew it.
But he had ignored the signs" because he's a bastard! Because it's his fault that mom died!" Ed yelled" Because we don't need him!"
Because he left us alone!
Ed pushed that thought away he wasn't six anymore and wanting his father back, he was fifthteen and he hated the bastard for everything his absence had wroth.
It had been a long time since Ed had seen Al so angry" I need him Edward! He could help us, why won't you just put your pride back for once and ask for help!" yelled Alphonse.
"Al-"Alphonse cut Ed off as the fight began to escalate beyond control.
"Edward why can't you just listen to me! If you asked dad then maybe, maybe-"Al stuttered angrily as Ed snapped back.
"Then maybe what Al! What!" he wasn't prepared for the answer.
"Then maybe I'd have my body back by now!" everything seemed to freeze at that moment.
Ed stumbled back as if stabbed as Al seemed to glare at him; never had the armor looked so fierce to him.
So that was it huh? Al really did blame him for everything.
Al would much rather have that bastard around than his own brother, well then.
Ed went towards the door as armor creaked behind him.
"Edward?"
Ed turned looking at his younger brother; he guessed he didn't do as good a job as he thought.
"Goodbye Alphonse" that was the last he saw of his brother as he left.
Their fight had found him outside in the dark walking around central.
All he could think right now was how no matter how hard he tried, nothing good ever came from his efforts.
Every damn time it went south.
That included Al.
"He rather have that bastard around than me, he's such an idiot!" Ed kicked at a can in anger; it flew and broke some stone in a buildings wall having used his automail.
He kept up his wandering having past HQ and now was heading downtown, and all he could think was the anger he felt towards Al.
Though it wasn't anger at Alphonse, it was anger at himself.
In a way he knew Alphonse could never forget about their father, god knows Edward had believed he'd come back until their mother started to space off.
She was happy on the outside but he and Al had always seen the truth, the longing for their father; that was when Ed had begun to hate his father.
Al didn't have many memories of Hohenheim so he didn't take his absence as badly as he had, because Ed did remember their father.
He remembered him better than Al ever could, and maybe because he knew how it felt to be loved by someone who then looked at you like you didn't matter.
It had been the first time Ed had felt hurt of the emotional kind.
After a few years the hurt turned to hate, but as he stared up at the few stars he hated the tiny part of him that long for a father.
He also hated that he had begun to fill that space with someone else over the last four years, not that he'd ever admit it.
"He just couldn't pretend anymore" Ed muttered but he didn't know if he was talking about his brother or Hohenheim.
Looking around he noticed he was in a small downtown park, it was probably midnight by now judging by the moon.
Sitting on a park bench were the moon didn't shine as brightly he began to think back, after Hohenheim left he had taken up a few extra responsibilities.
They weren't much and it was actually fun being the man of the house, loved how his mother would ruffle his hair and call him her little man.
He had been the one to show Al how to play games fathers usually did, because their father had shown him.
Back then he took the responsibility as something fun, because Edward honestly believed his father was going to come back.
Then the epidemic came and their mother fell ill.
The seeds of resentment for his father had begun the day their mother collapsed, and when they couldn't even find the bastard it became hatred.
The true weight of the responsibility came crashing down right then; yes they had granny, Auntie Sara and Uncle Urey, but things became harder after that.
It was hard to focus in school, chores usually done by their mother now fell on him and Alphonse because the Rockbells also had their own dilemma after all.
Trying to find a cure for this illness which was slowly killing their mother, even if Ed logically knew others had fallen ill; he was a child and his mother had always been his main thought.
And then she died and they were alone, sure the Rockbells took care of them for a few years until they died in the war.
That left them with only Granny and Winry, Ed never let anyone know his secret reason for wanting their mother back though.
Since the day their mothered died the responsibility of raising his brother fell on him, it was okay at first.
Sometimes they'd argue, after all he had been a seven year old trying to act the part of father and mother to someone a year younger.
But things became harder and Ed started to become scared, what if he did something wrong? What if he wasn't as strong as he thought he was?
That had been the second reason he wanted their mother back and that was the reason he was out here in the dark and cold.
Because he couldn't admit to his little brother that he actually felt jealous, that a man who hadn't been around for over nine years still held a higher importance in Al's mind.
But what right did he have to feel like this, everything was always his fault.
No matter what he did, no matter how good his intentions, he always ended up on his ass.
And someone always paid for his mistakes, usually Alphonse.
Though he wondered in a way if this was karma at play, he never admitted to anyone how he had begun replacing his father with a certain bastard.
Maybe that's why Al felt the way he did, you can't replace what you can't remember.
"Bastard, maybe I'm just cursed" it was a stupid thought though, curses weren't real.
But he wouldn't put it past Truth to add this extra agony in his life, sometimes he wondered if that was the only reason he had been born.
Shaking his head clear of those thoughts, they always surfaced when something broke through his emotional barriers.
He wondered what he was going to do now. He couldn't go back to Al; he made it clear he didn't want Edward around anymore.
So where?
He took a few steps; maybe he'd just wander for the night.
Or maybe he could just tell Al how he felt; all he had to do was tell him how it made him felt.
But that felt like he was telling Al he was right, ugg, sometimes he wondered why it was so easy to yell but could never tell Alphonse how he felt.
He never got more than a few steps before someone grabbed his throat from behind lifting him up a few inches off the ground, acting on instinct he went to clap his hands when something pricked his flesh arm causing a stronger struggle.
He Hated needles, too caught up in trying to free his throat he didn't realize whatever had been injected into him had begun to work.
He didn't even notice his arms slowly falling to his side as darkness played in the corners of his eyes.
(Present)
"Mouthy little brat ain't he" laughed another man, Ed knew this man as Marcus.
If he wasn't chained up and being held up by his braid by this man, he would have shown him the consequences of being called small.
That and he weren't sure he could speak anymore, you'd think for wanting answers they would stop hurting his throat.
You think through a week's torture he'd be worse off but honestly, he felt like this wasn't the worse part.
During past experiences one which included seeing an innocent person being killed right in front of him and almost being drowned.
He felt like this was only the beginning, they were planning something else.
They were too large a group, to organize and yet all they did was stab him, sometimes drug him or break bones.
Sometimes a few tried, he pushed that one out of his thoughts.
Yet they hadn't tried to kill him, even if they were killing his throat to the point were shouting hurt and talking wasn't an easy feat.
He coughed up blood on more than one occasion.
"Well if he refuses to tell us anything it's safe to say we can leave him with the military tomorrow" at that many of the men became confused.
Even Ed through the pain of still being held off the ground of only his braid, he was going to have one hell of a head ache.
"Remember boys this is only part one" the man chuckled as many of the men complained of not being able to have their turn in the hurting department.
A few others mentioned some things that Edward tried to ignore, was it possible to feel violated through words.
Yes, yes it was.
But then as he was roughly dropped jarring his newly cracked ribs and knife wounds he realized Boss had said part one, what did that mean.
That all the questioning had been nothing but a ruse! Or were they letting him go planning something bigger for him.
No that couldn't be it
"Of course we can't have the brat telling everyone who we are can we" at this many of the men perk up, but when Boss shouted that they weren't going to kill the kid they groaned.
Ed tried not to grow which wasn't that hard since any sort of vibration in his esophagus hurt like hell.
"Were going to make sure he can't tell anyone" the way Boss said that made Edward's mind hone in on the sentence.
There was something about the way he said it that raised all the warning flags in his mind.
The man snapped his fingers as he recognized this as the signal, he mental prepared himself for the worse.
Though once this was over he was going to realize his kidnapping and merciful release would only be the start of his problems.
And this time he wouldn't be able to say anything about it.
This is to make up for my writers block, stupid new story ideas!