A Broken Promise
Kimblee turned to leave the office, when his name was called out. He looked over his shoulder back at Archer.
"Yeah?"
"I need to speak with you." He glanced at the other officers. "Alone." They nodded and hurried out the door past Kimblee. He walked up the Archer's desk as Archer stood and walked up to Kimblee.
"Please come back. And not as a corpse." Kimblee smirked down at him.
"Don't worry about me. I will."
"Promise?" Kimblee looked onto Archer's eyes and nodded.
"I promise."
"Be careful." Kimblee laughed and ruffled Archer's hair.
"Why are you being so emotional? I'm an alchemist and an adult. I'll be fine." Archer flattened his hair again, clearly annoyed.
"You need to take this seriously! I don't' want to lose you!" Kimblee ran a hand through his own hair and sighed.
"I understand. I'll be careful."
"Don't get too carried away." Kimblee's hand's reached out and grabbed the ropes and Archer's jacket and pulled him close.
"I'll try." He whispered before kissing him. Archer couldn't bring himself to kiss back. He pulled away and looked into Kimblee's eyes.
"Please keep your promise." Kimblee nodded.
"You don't have to worry, I'm gonna come back.
"Good, but I'm still gonna worry."
"Wuss…"
"Jack----" Kimblee kissed him before he could finish the cruel word.
Archer's throat tightened when the body fell. Kimblee fell gracefully, his hair flying out behind him. Archer squeezed his eyes shut when Kimblee hit the rocks below.
"Dammit, Kimblee! You promised!" He thought. The salty burn formed at his eyes, but he refused to cry, not during this situation. Officers were looking up to him for support.
"Sir, what should we do?"
"Charge." Archer commanded his voice breaking. The officer saluted and called out the order.
Archer's heart was pounding as he charged. He tried to tell himself that it hadn't been Kimblee, but there was no mistaking it. No one else looked like that. The hair had been a giveaway.
"Find Scar!" He called. The officers split up and Archer walked slowly up to the rocks. Kimblee's blood was everywhere. Swallowing hard, he forced himself to keep going. Kimblee's face was calm, but his eyes were wide in surprise. His golden eyes were fogged over and his bangs were sticking to his blood caked forehead.
Archer leaned over and put his fingers over Kimblee's eyes and pulled his eyelids down. Before he left, Archer kissed him softly on the lips, now cold and chapped. A tear leaked out onto his cheek and he reached up to wipe it away, sniffing back the rest that were coming. Finally, he turned to enter the crumbling city. Once he was in, a red light broke from the center and started to spread. He heard screams and he turned to run, but then he couldn't see.
Kimblee's eyes flew open. He had had the most horrible dream. Then he paused. Hadn't Scar killed him? Slowly, he sat up and looked around.
"You're up!" A cheery voice rang out. Kimblee looked around and saw a quite familiar man sitting at a window.
"Who are you?"
"Maes Hughes. Former military officer like yourself."
"So, I did die?" Hughes nodded. "What the hell is going on?" Hughes shrugged.
"Not quite sure. Oh! Did someone replace me? I had a dream about a pale young man." Kimblee's eyes shot up to him.
"Yeah. Frank Archer."
"Then I'm right! You'll have dreams about people that were close to you. Believe them, they're actually happening." He watched Kimblee's eyes widen in horror.
"What?"
"Archer…he just lost half of his body." Hughes whistled.
"Ouch. How was he close to you?"
"Boyfriend."
"Oh… right…"
That night, Kimblee fell into a restless sleep. He felt like he was flying. He was soaring through a crowded hallway. Then he stopped outside a door. Loud screaming was ringing from it. Then Kimblee entered. His heart almost stopped at the sight in front of him. Archer was the one who had been screaming. He was a horrible bloody mess. He screamed again when a nurse tried to walk up to him. Why were they even trying? He was going to die if he stayed in that state.
Archer wanted to scream "Leave Me!" but he couldn't form the words. Then he felt a cool touch on his face. His one eye swiveled around and he froze. Kimblee? He looked transparent.
"Calm down taisa. They're trying to help." He whispered.
The doctors paused when the screaming stopped. Archer was staring wildly up at the ceiling. One finally ran up and stuck the injection into his arm. Archer tensed, then relaxed, his one eye closing slowly.
Kimblee was shaken awake and he looked up into Hughes face.
"Are you okay? You were screaming like crazy." Sweat was pouring down Kimblee's body, making his shirt stick to his skin. He was breathing heavily, unable to answer the question. Hughes eventually left him with a glass of water. He started to calm down, but the image of what had happened to his lover was branded into his mind. It was almost two hours later when he felt tired again.
Kimblee began to get used to Archer's new body. The automail was horribly deformed compared to the rest of his body, but he was used to it. His latest dream had been a bit disturbing. Archer had tried to kill Hawkeye, then went to the Fuhrer's estate to kill Mustang. Hughes had woken him up, so Kimblee didn't know what had happened next, but Hughes looked a little bothered, so maybe Archer had killed Mustang. Kimblee sighed and turned the street corner, then froze.
They stared at each other for a long time. That's why Hughes had woken him up, he hadn't wanted him to see what had happened. His throat suddenly felt dry.
"Archer?" The man nodded and silence took over again. Then it broke. They ran at each other and grabbed onto the other. They held onto each other, refusing to let go.
"I missed you." Kimblee whispered.
"So did I." Both of them were crying, but didn't care. People were looking at them weird, but they took no notice.
Hughes looked out his window, smiling. Sometimes, death could be a good thing.