I know I should be updating my other stories instead of writing new ones, but I was inspired, so here's a story I hope you'll all like!
Warning: Contains spoilers for books 9/10
I do not own FullMetal ALchemist.
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"So. Knox. How're you liking this new gig?"
"Mustang...Hey. As it turns out, doctors have to stand on their feet all day too, so old geezers like me have to take lots of breaks. But at least this job gets me away from all the dead bodies..." The grungy man sat down next to Roy chewing on a toothpick. "Wo what are you doing here? Last time I saw you was just a little while after the incident with that girl...Ross, right?"
"That's right, Doctor. Today I'm just here for some burns and some shots while I'm at it."
"Finally burned yourself, huh? ...Playing with fire..."
Roy snorted in humorous agreement. What'd he'd really done though was to stuff both his gloves in one pocket while he was dashing out the door to get home in time to get ready for a date. He'd been in such a hurry the friction was enough to cause the gloves to spark and set fire to his shirt. Now both sides of him had burn marks.
"Hey...I've had one patient I think you might be interested in." Knox looked at Roy with a slightly bemused expression.
"Oh?"
"You remember that kid you were always looking out for? The FullMetal?"
Roy jerked forward in his seat, swiveling to stare at his old comrade in arms.
"Edward?"
"Yep. Elric kid. He came in about two weeks ago. Had two paralyzed limbs, strangest thing I've seen yet. One leg, one arm just totally paralyzed."
Roy licked his lips unconsciously, processing the information
"So you didn't know. He mentioned you the other day when I came in to confirm his release."
"He resigned. Just up and quit a month ago. Not a word to me. And he mentioned me? What did he say?"
"Said he just couldn't seem to escape the military. Maybe if you could get him into it, you could get him out too. He was kidding around." He added as Roy tensed beside him.
Roy laughed. "I'm not so sure he didn't. Do you know where he is now? When did he first come in?"
"Some of that's confidential, General." Knox smirked. "And it's not as if I'd even know that his brother checked him in exactly two weeks ago or that he's renting a little house on Fifth Ave by the lake...Or...That his veteran's insurance has been terminated for unknown reasons and he's struggling financially right now."
"I see. I guess I'll just have to talk to him myself." Roy stood, hearing his name called by a chubby pink-faced nurse named Merissa. He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned around. Knox offered a hand and after a moment, Roy shook it.
"See you around...comrade."
Roy nodded firmly.
Ed was swinging on his alchemically fashioned sling when the doorbell rang. His "hammock" hung from the ceiling it melted into and he had to be careful as he rolled to touch his right palm with his left so he could transmute, sending the swing gliding over to the door which he also transmuted. Roy was a little surprised to see Ed hovering a little above his own head in a sling made of a mysterious clothlike, plasticlike substance.
"Huh? What's the Colonel-bastard doing here?" Ed growled before beginning to roll off his back onto his side.
It was a kneejerk reaction that caused Roy to step suddenly forward and try to support Ed with both hands so Ed wouldn't roll off, which caused Ed to roll more to counterbalance the unexpected support. He crashed down Roy's front to the floor as Roy fell back on his behind. He heard Ed whimper softly and watched the boy wriggle on the ground before calling, "Al!" And turning his head to look at Roy. "Why did you have to do that, you moron?" He snapped.
"I thought you were going to fall." Roy stood and went over to Ed, very carefully putting his hands under the boy's stomach in order to lift him.
"Mustang-"
"BROTHER! What's wrong?" Al came screaming out of the bathroom, soap and water flying off him with a towel flying around his little waist.
"Colonel? Here-" Al bumped Roy out of the way and wrapped one arm under Ed's chest, keeping the other free to aid himself as he slowly rolled his brother onto his back. Clapping his hands, Al transmuted the sling down onto the floor. Ed sat up and let Al help him scoot onto his sling.
When Al let go, Ed rolled onto his side and touched him limp right palm before transmuting the sling up to Roy's chest level and giving Roy a very pointed look.
"So it's true..." Roy began before either Elric could begin questioning (and maybe insulting) him. "Your limbs are back to normal and paralyzed...And that's you, Alphonse." Roy stared. Al was shorter than Ed by an inch, making the pair a no longer intimidating presence although Roy was sure Ed could still scream a person out of a room with volume alone. Al had slightly lighter blond hair than Ed, short and in a tidy cut that didn't hang down in his face the way Ed's did. He was trim and in good shape but without the almost disturbing muscle mass Ed sported. He also had large, flat feet.
Al began to fidget under the scrutiny and excused himself.
"I'll be out in ten minutes, OK?" He said, slipping into the bathroom. A roll and a blue flash and Ed was exactly at Roy's eye level.
"You want something to drink while you explain to me how you found me?"
"Thank you." Roy said graciously. Ed seemed to be behaving in a very laid back manner.
He sat at a tiny plastic table with about a 12" radius, standing quickly when he saw how much trouble Ed was having pouring juice from a pitcher into a cup while keeping balanced on his sling.
"I can get it." He offered. Ed jerked in the sling and some juice sloshed over him and the low ceiling.
"NO! I can DO it!"
Roy jumped back. He hadn't been quite ready for the FullMetal's famous wall-shaking yell. But this was more of a screech, frustrated and angry. After a moment, Roy's heart slowed.
"Edward...? I used to know Dr. Knox...Very well. He's one of the new doctors in the military clinic. When we happened to meet by chance the other day he remembered that I knew you. He also said you told him that you thought maybe if I could get you into the military, I could get you out of it. I found you through the clinic."
"What do you want?" Ed snapped as he snatched a paper towel from its rack over the sink and began wiping off the ceiling after a quick transmutation.
"Quite honestly, although it's a stupid question, why you quit the way you did. I guess I thought I would know if you had found the Stone...I at least expected you to come say goodbye. Everyone in my office was a little disappointed."
"Colonel-"
"It's General now." Roy corrected him gently. Ed rolled over so he could look down at Roy.
"Really?" He was silent for a long moment. When he spoke again, his voice was soft. "...Mustang?"
"Yes?"
"Mmph. Help me down?" Ed's sling now hovered next to the other chair. The flexibility of the sling made it almost impossible for Ed to sit up, but that's what he was trying to do anyway.
"Um-...I won't hurt you, will I?"
"Just help me!" Ed yelled, struggling to make his body right itself against two dead weights that were his limbs. Roy put both hands under Ed's shoulders and pulled him to a sitting position. Ed grabbed Roy's shoulder to pull himself up further.
Al came into the room wearing black jeans and a white Tshirt, immediately coming over to put one hand under Ed's knees and the other behind his back after carefully folding Ed's right arm over his lap. Roy let go and stepped back as Al easily transferred his older, bigger brother into the other chair at the table.
To avoid staring at his brightly blushing brother, Al went to the sink to get a rag to wipe up the stickiness of the spilled cranberry juice while Roy sat down awkwardly across from Ed, who was leaning on one elbow and panting slightly. Ed swallowed and looked up at Roy.
"So the doctor told you." He said. "I-I would have said goodbye but...After I sent in my resignation, the Fuhrer himself came and found me. He said I could never come back if I left now and that, considering I'd had no formal schooling, I didn't really have any prospects, I should stay. When I told him he couldn't change my mind, he kind of snapped and me and yelled that if he ever saw me near a military building again, he'd make sure I regretted it. Then later when I got to the clinic, I found out he'd terminated the insurance program I'd been counting on using...It was the whole reason I took the chance and came to the military clinic in the first place. But now they kind of won't let me go." Ed looked at Roy's perturbed face. "Out-patient."
"Oh." Roy was still sorting all of that when Al set down glasses of red cranberry juice in front of both of them, taking his own cup over to an overturned milk crate in the corner.
"So...You found us, Colonel."
"It's General now, Alphonse."
"That's great! Wow...We've been out of touch for a while now, huh?" Al looked down at his finger circling the rim of his cup.
"Do you mind answering questions?" Roy asked. Both Elrics gave perfectly synchronized headshakes.
"How did you get your bodies back?"
Ed and Al exchanged a look.
"General Mustang..." Al began. They shared another look and Ed took over.
"We followed a Xinganese Prince back to Xing. And-and while we were there we found-" Ed bit his lip and Roy braced himself for something truly horrible. Whatever it was, it was making Ed choke.
"We met Lieutenant Colonel Hughes." Ed choked out. Roy stared. His stomach started to tighten and his heart began to pound.
Hughes was dead. He knew that. He'd almost been on the phone with him when he died. ...His best friend in the whole world. But he was dead.
Ed opened his mouth and Roy stood abruptly.
"That's enough."
"Wait!" Ed struggled to sit up straighter. "Don't you understand, he's not-"
Roy held up one hand to stop Ed.
"See you later, FullMetal." He was already at the door.
"NO! MUSTANG!" Ed's voice sounded raw and choked.
"General! Please let us explain!" Al was following him out the door. Roy brushed him off, not letting him say what he wanted to say and Al finally threw up his hands.
"Fine! I guess you really don't care!"
Roy smacked the single tear off his cheek. He'd never known how to grieve except to get drunk, but when Maes had died it hadn't seemed right at all. So he'd pushed it out of his mind.
He was still grieving.
Hard.
Al stomped into the house, cutting short his tirade against stubborn people who wouldn't listen when he recognized the tiny choking noises coming from the kitchen. Ed was crying, pressing his face against his arm on the table and trying to hold it all in. Al was at his side in a moment, knowing if Ed got embarrassed he would hide his feelings, which Al had learned was not a good thing. It made his brother irritable and irrational. It was Al's explanation for a lot of the things they'd done when Ed was still a State Alchemist.
He rubbed Ed's back and picked him up, straining to carry him all the way to the couch before lying down against him, feeling the limp, hard left leg against his own.
"Al-...I didn't want him to find out that way. I wanted to bring him back."
"I know." Al was fighting tears himself now. "But we both know what the cost would have been, Ed. It was too much." Al was trying not to remember the look Maes Hughes had given them. That one particular look...
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As I said before, readers of my other stories may be wishing I would update those instead of starting new stories, but I just couldn't help it! Insipiration struck and I had to go with the flow. All the same, I'm really sort of exploring with this story, and I would love to hear suggestions, any information on paralyzation or other kinds of things like that, any tips, whatever. Constructive critcism welcomed, flames laughed at! And please feel free to request anything you would like to see in this story as it's still very new and open. It's (dun da dun) an open book!!! (I started a new notebook for it --; )
Thank you for reading! R&R Please.