A/n: if you didnt look at my profile first, or guess already, due to my pen name, I should let you know that we are two different people sharing the same account (Mostly because I'm lazy and didnt feel like making my own.) our names are Megan and Melaynuh. this story is by Melaynuh, just to clear up any confusion. Sorry if there are any spelling mistakes. I wrote this on my iPod, so there may be a few. I didn't actually check for spelling or grammar mistakes. Anyway, enough of my shit: here is my story! Enjoy!
Alphonse walked slowly up the cobblestone pathway that led to Granny and Winry's house, struggling to balance an injured Edward, who refused to let Al carry him. Ed's automail arm was broken again, and he seemed to have some sort of concussion, because his eyes were unfocused, he wasn't walking straight, and he kept mumbling about a white business man who tried to murder him in another dimension. He was also clutching his side, which appeared to be bleeding. Al reached a hand up to the door to knock, and almost as soon as his fist made contact, Winry pulled it open.
"Oh its you two. I suppose Ed broke his automail again?" Winry asked sarcastically
"I-I think so," Al stammerred. "But I don't know what happened." He added quickly, before Winry started screamig at Ed.
"EDWARD ELRIC WHAT DID YOU DO THIS TIME? WHY ARE YOU ALWAYS BREAKING MY AUTOMAIL? IF YOU KEEP THIS UP, YOU'LL END UP GETTING YOURSELF KILLED BEFORE YOU TURN 16! WHERES MY—" She stopped.
"—fucking wrench" Ed muttered quietly. Winry glared at him
"Excuse me, but do you even realize—" Ed collapsed onto his hands and knees, vommited over the edge of the of the front step, and fell, with a muffled thump onto the cold, hard concrete The look on Winry's face suddenly changed from angry to concerned, slightly nauseated, but generally concerned. Without another word, she ushered Al inside, who carried an unconscious Edward in his arms.
"What the–?" Winry asked Al.
"I–I don't know" Al stammered nervously.
They both stared at Ed, who was now slumped on the floor, his eyes rolled up into his head and flecks of vomit on his chin. His flesh hand was covered in blood, and the side of his shirt was soaked in it. It looked like some sort of stab wound. Winry got some antiseptic and gauze bandages out of a closet in the bathroom, and tended to Ed's wounds. Al carried him up to his bedroom and placed him on the bed. Winry followed closely behind. Al couldn't bare to look, yet he couldn't bring himself to leave, in case Ed woke up. He sat down on the floor at the foot of Ed's bed, and Winry sat next to him with her head in her hands.
Hours passed. Winry's sobbing eventually became quiter until she finnally fell asleep,leaning on Al's shoulder. Al waited for the morning for what seemed like weeks until the sun finnally started to come up.
Ed groaned and opened his eyes. The sun was bright and seemed to be angled just right so it shone directly into his eyes. His mouth was dry, and for some reason it tasted like water does in the morning (oh the irony). He lifted his head up and winced at the throbbing pain at the base of his skull just above his neck. He saw Al's metal helmet, just visible above the foot of the bed. For some reason he didn't remember how he got there. The last thing he remembered was falling through a shimery wall. (The wall was strange; it looked paper thin, yet rock solid, but it felt like falling through icy water.) and coming face to face with an unnaturally tall white man in a business suit. And he wasn't white because of his race. He didn't look human at all, actually. His skin was pure white, like paper. The man sprouted about 6 or 7 extra arms and lunged at Ed. He felt a sharp pain as the man's cold hand—its strangely long fingers curled into a fist —Connected with the back of his head. He ran back to the strange wall just in time, a narrow escape. The last thing he remembered was a strong feeling of fear as his head spun and he fell to the ground, half conscious. That's when everything went blank. He tried to recall what the man's face looked like, and remembered that there wasn't anything there. No eyes, no nose, no mouth, no ears. Not even hair. He had to be at least eight or ten feet tall, way too tall to be normal. A feeling of dread formed in the pit of his stomach, as ed realized that this man—this monster— wasn't human, it couldn't be. It wasn't possible.
Ed tried to reach over to the table by his bed, looking for a glass of water. His automail arm wouldn't budge. He realized it wasn't even there, and panicked. Winry would kill him for sure if she found out it had disappeared. Al peeked his helmet over the foot of the bed and said "BROTHER!" So loudly that Ed jumped and said "wha- whats wrong?" His eyes were wild and they darted around the room nervously.
"Nothing's wrong, brother. I'm just glad you're awake. You had me and Winry worried sick"
"I-I did?" Ed asked, calming down a little. "What even happened anyway?"
Al explained everything that went on after he had brought Ed here.
"What happened to my automail? Winry's gonna kill me when she finds out that its gone."
"Actually it was smashed up pretty badly, so Winry is repairing it" Al replied
"And she's not furious?" Ed sounded bewildered
"Well after what happened, I think she just felt guilty about yelling. She didn't realize the shape you were in.
"So she's not angry with me? At all?" Ed asked. Al shook his head. Winry burst into the room. She looked worried.
"I thought I just heard—"
"It's fine. Brother just woke up, so I was a little bit too relieved, I guess," Al cut her off. Winry's expression changed from worried to relieved. She sighed.
"How're you feeling, Ed?" she asked.
Ed shrugged and then winced at the sharp pain in his side, which was bandaged heavily. "I'm fine." He managed to say through gritted teeth. Winry didn't look convinced.
"I brought you some of granny's stew" she said. Ed smiled, and took it, realizing just how hungry he was.
"Thanks, Winry" he said through a mouthful of stew. He swallowed and took the glass of water off of the table near his bed. He took a sip, letting the icy water cool his dry, scratchy throat. It felt good to drink, to let the water seep into him. After a couple of seconds he froze. The icy water suddenly started to feel all to familiar. And not in a good way. It reminded him of the wall, the feeling of cold icy water pushing him into another world. A world where no human belonged. He shuddered, and put the glass back down.
"Brother? Are you alright?" Al asked. Winry looked at Ed, then shot Al a nervous glance,
"The water's just a little cold, is all" Ed replied. He really was telling the truth, just not the whole truth. He took another mouthful of stew and let the warmth of it melt the ice that had formed in his stomach. Winry nodded and left. Al stayed with his brother as he finished his stew. He yawned when he ate the last mouthful. He felt strangely tired, almost exhausted, as if eating simply took too much energy. Al understood, and took the plate into the kitchen, leaving Ed alone. It took him a long time to fall asleep, despite how tired he was. He couldn't help feeling a little anxious, after what had happened.
He woke up to hushed voices at about 3 in the morning. He cautiously got up and cracked open the door ever so slightly.
"I don't think so Winry," Al said. "He said he saw a business man with no facial features".
"But think about it? Its not possible to have no facial features. Nobody is just born without a face. And besides, the man hit him in the head pretty hard, I woudn't be surprised if he just does't remember what it looked like."
"True," Al responded "but that doesn't explain how he got transported to another dimension"
"Yes it does"
"But he got transported into another dimension before he got hit in the head. He also saw the man first too, how could anybody be that tall? Or white?" Al questioned.
"Well, there are a lot of white people in the world, you know. Everyone in this house is white. A lot of people are white. Its not really that unusual! And you know how short Ed is! Everything probably looks a lot taller to him than it does to us."
"Oh you know what I meant by white! And I dont think anyone could look 10 feet tall, even if you are an abnormally short shrimp!"
Naturally, Ed felt insulted by this. But he didn't say anything. Instead, he thouht to himself: 'nobody calls me a pipsqueak and gets away with it. Not even Al. (But of course, Ed would never do anything to hurt his younger brother. He would instead have some fun later transmuting his brother's armor into various inappropriate forms)
"I think you're just being paranoid. You worry too much!" Winry retorted.
"I don't know, Winry. I found this in mustangs office hidden beneath a pile of unfinished paperwork." Al pulled out a reasonably thick old-fashioned looking book, bound in black leather. He opened it to a page that was already book-marked. "Listen to this," he said, "'The Slender Man is a creature or being with various nebulously defined characteristics and abilities. Slender Man generally appears (in modern times) as a tall man in a black or grey suit, red or black tie, and white shirt, with no eyes, mouth, or clearly defined facial features. It has no hair, and generally has normal-looking bare hands. Slenderman typically is depicted as a man, with skin the color of paper, between 6 and 15 feet tall, depending on the situation. Because of its inexact nature, no one has yet determined what it is. Currently, the two leading theories as to what the Slenderman may be are the Tulpa Effect and Quantum Theory. In almost every description Slenderman's basic attributes will vary greatly, however several basic traits are typical of his behavior. He is shown to behave in a very passive aggressive manner, stalking targets for years at a time, torturing his target mentally for various unknown reasons. He is rarely ever shown in a benevolent light and is typically shown as a malevolent force. This behavioral pattern has an uncertain reasoning behind it, and exactly why he behaves in such a way has yet to be fully ascertained. The most important factor about Slenderman is the mystery. He lives unlike any human being despite having a similar appearance to one. It is uncertain if he is social, or even understands human languages or behaviors, nor why humans appear to be his main target. His targets will typically behave in off ways as if possessed (Proxy), but whether their psychosis is causing them to speak for him or for themselves isn't entirely certain either.'"
"S-so you think thats what attacked Ed? The slender man?" Winry asked.
"Yeah" Al said, flipping through the next few pages, skimming them rapidly. "Look at this" Al said. "'The Sickness is the name given to an apparent sickness consisting mostly of coughing fits and coughing up blood, along with occasional nausea, paranoia, vomitting, and extreme exhaustion due to an encounter and being stalked by the Slender Man. Many have also had bloody noses, fever, and sometimes amnesia. It is experienced mostly by those stalked by Slender Man, though occasionally it seems to appear in suspected proxies. The theorized order of illness is as follows:
Stalked:
Nose bleeds with fever like the common cold, mild amnesia
First Encounter:
Nose bleeds, exhaustion, nausea, strong cough, vomiting, amnesia, slight signs of radiation poisoning, aches and pains, slight trauma of the eyes (i.e. blood shot, vesial popping ect...), deja vu is commonly seen at this point.
More than five sightings:
Coughing up blood, blood in vomit, many signs of radiation exposure, painful breathing, difficulty in swallowing, violent convulsions and major amnesia.'"
"Has he had any of those symtoms?" Winry asked.
"He's had at least two of them for sure. I think he might've had others too. I just hope I'm wrong"
Ed closed the door. He felt sick to his stomach all of a sudden, his heart rate was elevated and his head was spinning, replaying the conversation in his head. His palms started to get clammy. He rushed over to the trash can and started retching into it. Al and Winry burst through the door and exchanged nervous glances, clearly asking the same mental questions: is he really being stalked by the slender man? Does he have the sickness? Their worries were confirmed as Al got stuck with taking the vomit filled trash can and cleaning it out, since he was the only one who couldn't smell (and of course Ed was sick so...). He noticed that it wasn't your regular, everyday vomit, but it was red. Al nervously thought to himself: He just coughed up blood and he already threw up once the day before. And he could't remeber what happened after he went back through the wall. 3 tell-tale signs of the sickness. Someone had to do something about this. His brother was in danger. He told Winry what had happened, and she gasped.
"So it's really true? Slenderman is real"
"It looks that way"
"How do we stop hi- I mean it?" Winry asked.
"I don't know. I don't think the book says anything about killing it"
"There has to be away. Every living thing has to die some day. It's the circle of life"
"I hope so. If it even is a living thing" Al responded quietly.
They heard coughing. Strong coughing. Just like the book described. And it was coming from Ed's room. They rushed in once again. Ed was leaning on the windowsill for support, eyes fixed on whatever loomed outside. His face was pale.
"I-i-i-it's f-f-f-following me" Ed whimpered fearfully. "It's out to kill me"
"NO! BROTHER DONT TALK LIKE THAT! YOU'RE GOING TO BE FINE!" Al shrieked as he looked out the window. It was dark but he could just make out the silhouette of a man. In a black suit. With papery white skin. And it's head was tilted upward at the window, as if watching, despite having no eyes to see with.
"It's here" Al whispered. Winry shoved past and stood in the middle. Her eyes widened in fear.
"How did it- how did it get here?" She asked. I thought it was in central".
"Not quite central" Ed whispered nervously. He sounded scared. Way passed scared. He sounded flat out terrified. "Th-there was a a portal in central. I stepped through, and I was in a strange world. It definitely wasn't central, something about it was just…off"
"I think I saw something like that in the book! It's called slender-walking. It can sort of jump around wherever it wants to go. Kind of like teleporting, I guess." Al said.
As Ed heard the words he started shaking. "He can't get in here can he?" Ed breathed.
"I don't think so" Al whispered back. Ed wasn't convinced as he sat down on the bed. He covered himself with blankets and closed his eyes, and fell asleep almost instantly.
He heard a door creaking open. Then footsteps. Slow, heavy footsteps. Its just Al, he thought. Al coming in to check on me. The footsteps came closer to the bed.
"Hey, Al" no response. "Al?" still no response. Something cold touched his face. It wasn't Al. He opened his eyes, and looked at the figure looming over him. Ed opened his mouth to scream, but before he could, something wrapped itself around his neck, cutting off his air supply. He started to panic. He closed his eyes tight, trying to suck in a breath of air. But he couldn't. His fingers clawed at the thing wrapped around his neck, but it didn't loosen its grip. His lungs screamed for air that could not be provided. He opened his eyes and stared helplessly at the featureless face above him. The next thing he knew, he wasn't in his bedroom anymore. He was surrounded by darkness. Trees grew as far as the eye could see. From a few feet away, he saw the same wall he fell through in central. He shivered. Still, the thing that gripped his neck would not let go. His eyes started to close involuntarily, as the scene changed again, and the wall disappeared. The grip on his neck loosened and he fell to the ground, unconscious, and gasping for breath.
"Here" Winry handed Al a bowl of stew. "Give this to Ed and tell him I'm done working on the arm. Granny and I can reattach it whenever he's ready."
"Ok Winry, I will" Al replied.
"Thanks"
Al walked up the stairs and headed toward Ed's bedroom. He knocked on the door. Ed didn't say anything. Al knocked again, thinking that Ed was still asleep and just hadn't heard him. Still no answer. He pushed the door open. He saw lump under the blankets. He walked over and put out a hand to shake Ed's shoulder and wake him up. That's when he knew something was wrong. Ed was not there. It was just blankets piled up, creating the illusion of a person inhabiting the bed. Al put down the bowl and walked out of the room. Brother is just in the bathroom, Al thought. He walked across the hall, and saw that the bathroom door was ajar. He pushed it open more. No one was there. That's weird Al thought. Where could he possibly be? He rushed through the entire top floor, checking every room. He had to be in one of them. Ed hadn't been downstairs for sure. Al would have noticed. Ed was not in any of the rooms either. He was gone. Al ran downstairs. Winry looked at him, confused.
"Al? What's wrong?" She asked.
"He's gone" Al said.
"What are you talking about?"
"Ed's gone"
"That's crazy. He can't just disappear like that. He's probably just in the bathroom. Al shook his head.
"I looked everywhere" he said quietly. "He's gone". Winry looked at him, fear evident in her eyes.
"Hey Al? Remember what you said about the slenderman being able to go where ever it wanted last night? You don't think—"
"No! What would the slenderman even want with Ed anyway?"
"I don't know Al, but it did seem to be following him didn't it? What other explanation could there be?"
"I guess you're probably right. We have to save him". Al walked toward the door, opened it and stepped onto the porch. Winry didn't follow him.
"C'mon Winry, what are you waiting for?"
"Give me a second" she said, and then ran upstairs. Al waited, tapping his foot impatiently until she came back.
"Ed's in trouble, what took you so long?" He demanded.
"I just went to grab a few things. They might be useful"
"What did you get?"
"Just a lantern, some rope, a Swiss Army knife and a jacket" she responded.
"Oh. Those might help. Sorry I yelled at you" Al took off, Winry running close behind. After a couple of minutes, they reached a shimmery wall. It looked paper thin, yet rock solid. Exactly like Ed had described to him. Al jumped through. Winry hesitated for a second, then cautiously followed. The wall shimmered and disappeared behind her.
"Damn it! How're we gonna get back now?" Winry asked, kicking the ground with her foot. "Ow!"
"Good job, Win" Al chuckled.
"It's not funny! That really hurt. I think I kicked something sharp". Winry bent down and picked up the jagged item. She wiped the grime off and read the words that were concealed under it.
"'don't look...or it takes you.'" She read. "It looks like its written in blood." Al and Winry exchanged nervous glances.
"What is it?" Al asked
"I think its a piece of metal"
"But what does it mean?"
"I don't know."
A slight breeze blew from somewhere behind them and Winry shivered. Al turned around and gasped so loudly that Winry jumped.
"What was that for? You scared me half to death!"
Al said nothing. Winry turned around, seeing what had scared Al. It was him. It. And It had a small figure clad in a red coat and black boots slumped over Its left shoulder. She blinked, and it was gone. So was Ed.
"What do we do now?"
"We just have to keep looking"
It felt like forever until they found another piece of metal. This one hung crookedly, nailed to the trunk of a dead tree.
"'Always watches, no eyes'" Al read, ripping the piece of metal from the tree. "What do these mean? Who put them here?"
"I don't know. But they're here for a reason. We just don't know what it is."
"Yet" Al finished for her. "I think we're meant to find them all."
"How can you be sure?" Winry asked.
"Did you notice how the sky brightened really slightly when you picked up the first one? And how it got even brighter when I ripped that one off of the tree? I think that every time we pick one up, we'll be closer to finding Ed and getting out of here."
"How many are there though? It took a long time to find two. There could be hundreds of them. We might be here for months. And by then, we might be too late."
"How could you say that, Winry? We have to try don't we?"
"Of course, Al. What would we do without him?"
They continued to walk through the endless forest of black trees. It had been about 4 hours, and they had found three pieces of metal nailed to various trees, or even rotting wood panels that were possibly the ruins of an old shack. They read 'no no no no no no no no no no' 'help me' and 'can't run'. After another half hour of walking aimlessly through the black forest, they walked up to a large, particularly old looking tree. There were no leaves on the branches, and the breeze made them quiver slightly, creating a soft, ominous sound. Sure enough, nailed to the tree was another piece of metal with crusted-over, blood red letters scribbled across it.
"follows…" Al read aloud. Winry made her way around the thick, ancient trunk.
"Hurry up, Al. We have to keep looking" she said, turning to face him. Al stepped forward, crunching a twig loudly under his foot. He stopped
"Was that…?" Al asked nervously
"That was your own foot, stupid. Now come on". She turned back around and let out a scream. Al did the same. There it was again. That thing. And there was Ed, still slumped over its left shoulder. Winry didn't move. Alphonse backed away slowly, and begged her to run. She didn't seem to hear him. Ed stirred for a few seconds, and sneezed softly. 'he's still alive' Al thought. 'But not for long if we don't find all the metal pieces.' He grabbed Winry by the wrist, and dragged her along behind him as quickly as he could. He looked frantically for a place to let her rest for a minute. She was in no shape to keep looking. As much as Al wanted to, she would just slow him down and he knew it. There was no denying that. It would be faster just to stop for a while. After a few minutes of aimlessly walking, he found a small building, and jogged over. It took him a long time to locate the entrance, but when he finally found it, he walked in without hesitation. It was unsurprisingly dim. In fact, the only source of light was the lantern Winry had brought. He held it up high over his head. There was a wide stretch of floor, with dark splatters of something thick and black all over it He scanned the area some more, and walked over to a chair that had been knocked aside, and picked it up, gingerly placing Winry in it. She was trembling. With his back pressed against the opposite wall, he slid down until he touched the floor.
"H-He was…and I just stood there like an idiot" Winry said after a long time.
"It's not your fault, Winry. It's ok to be scared sometimes. I'm sure any other person would've done the same thing in that situation." Al comforted her.
"But if I were in his place, Ed wouldn't have done that. He would've fought to the death to save me. And if he dies now, I wouldn't be able to live with myself, knowing that I didn't even try to help him." She was crying now.
"Stop that. It's not true. You are trying. You're helping me find all the pieces. And he's not going to die. Not if we can help it." Winry nodded with silent agreement, despite the tears still flowing freely down her checks. She stood, with shaky legs and stumbled over to Al. He looked up at her. She nodded. He understood, and obediently got up to keep looking. Inside they found nothing. They spotted a door, although, Al noticed, it was not the same one in which he had entered. Winry was silent as she tapped Al on the arm, just as he started heading the other way. He turned, confused, then followed Her gaze up the side of the building. There it was. Another piece of metal, glinting in the slightly less dim light of the sky. Al did a trouble take before scrambling over to it and prying it off of its high spot on the wall, as Winry was not tall enough to reach it. Something started shimmering a few feet away. It looked like the same wall they had come into this twisted version of hell through. So there were only eight of them. That's it? All they had to do now was find Edward, assuming he was still alive. No. Of course he was alive. Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist would never let something like that be the end of him. He was stronger than that. The Edward Elric that Al knew was a fighter. He would never give up. Not ever. As if on cue, that thing showed up. Again. And not even 3 feet away from him. And it was holding Edward with one arm. The other hand had its fingers loosely closed around the boy's neck. Alphonse flinched out of surprise, and instantly, the cold fingers tightened their grip. But the unresponsive teen didn't seem to care, or even notice what was going on. Ed's face was slowly starting to turn purple when he had a brilliant idea. Without hesitation, he clapped his hands together. For a few terrifying seconds, nothing seemed to happen. The sharp noise echoed off the trees. Then, bright blue alchemical light filled filled everyone's eyes. A rock spire shot out of the ground right between the feet of the one and only slenderman. Winry squeezed her eyes shut as a bone-chilling squelch made its way through the thick darkness of the forest. Al stared as the spire rose with ease right through the white creature, cleverly avoiding his brother by several centimeters. There was a soft thump as Ed fell gracelessly to the ground. The slenderman's now lifeless body exploded into thick, dark gray dust. With that, the shimmering wall burned dangerously bright, and once again disappeared. Both Al and Winry rushed over to the blond lying in a heap on the ground. His chest rose and fell as he forced the sour air into his lungs. Winry let out the breath she was holding.
"At least we know he's alive." She whispered.
"Yeah. If only we could get out of here. We need to take him to the hospital."
"Well how do we get back? The portal is gone, and we don't have much time before he…you know…" She let her voice trail off. Al let his armor fall back, rattling the metal pieces that were being stored inside. Winry's eyes lit up slightly.
"Al, how many pieces did we find? Eight?"
"Yeah. Why?"
"Can I see them?"
"Uh sure," Al responded, sitting up and handing them to her. She laid them out on the dead grass.
"I think we can get out of here with these. I just don't know how to do it." Al studied the pieces for a minute before nodding.
"I think I know how we can get out" he said.
"How?" Al didn't answer. He just took the pieces and arranged them into some sort of circle. They seemed to fit just like a puzzle. He grabbed his brother in one arm and held his other hand out to Winry. She took it. A loud snapping sound reached their ears, and the next thing they saw was sunlight. They had figured it out. They had escaped hell, with a living, breathing Edward, covered in dried blood and filth, but still very much alive.
3 days later:
Even through his confusion, Edward where he was even before he opened his eyes. The first thing he noticed was the smell. He hated that smell. It was like disinfectant and sick people. He could hear the steady beeping of the heart monitor. The steadiness of it burned itself into his ears, driving him insane. His ears screamed, telling everything to just shut up and let him have peace. But of course it only seemed to get louder every second. It was a miracle that he wasn't going deaf. Something was digging into the skin around his nose and mouth. It felt like an oxygen mask. Why on earth did he need one of those? People just seem too worried, like he would magically forget how to breathe someday. How likely that would be. He listened harder, and heard snippets of whispered conversation. And was that sniffing?
"It's been three days and he's in terrible shape. They don't think he has much longer." Was that Mustang? What was he talking about? And who was this 'he'? More sniffing.
"What happened to him anyway? You two have a bad habit of keeping secrets." Mustang again. There was silence. Then flipping rapidly through the pages of what seemed to be a very thick book.
"That's what's going on? Why didn't you tell me? I could've helped you know. He's lucky to have survived this long." Ok, something was up. What the hell was he talking about?
"We're sorry. We didn't have much time to call anybody to explain. Not even granny. We're so sorry." Alphonse? definitely Alphonse. More sniffing. He shivered. Why was it so cold in here? Someone laid a hand on his forehead.
"He's burning up." Winry. A cool, wet cloth was placed on his forehead. It felt good. But why was everyone worrying so much? His eyes fluttered open. Everything was blurry at first. It took a lot of effort just to focus his vision. Everyone was there. Alphonse, Winry, Mustang, Hawkeye, Havoc, Breda, Falman, Fuery. Everyone. But why were they so worried?
"Shhhh. He's waking up," someone whispered. Who was that? It was hard to tell. The door to the room creaked open, and a nice looking woman with dark hair appeared in the door frame. He struggled to sit up, and the room started spinning. A strong hand grabbed his shoulder and pushed him back down.
"Good to see he's awake. Can everyone step out of the way for a moment? I'm just going to check his temperature." They obeyed. The hand released its grip from his shoulder. The wet cloth had fallen off of his face. The nurse pressed it back down. He couldn't see anything. The cloth covered his eyes. The oxygen mask covering his nose and mouth was removed. He heard heavy breathing. Was that his own? A few minutes later, something else beeped. His ears screamed in protest. Why did everything have to be so loud? The beeping stopped. Someone spoke, but he couldn't tell who it was. Everything was just so jumbled up in his brain.
"103.8" the voice said. What was that supposed to mean? Why did everything have to be so confusing?
"103.8? That's really high, don't you think?"
"Yes. I'll have to give him some of this. If the fever doesn't go down in half an hour, call me. And make sure it doesn't go up either. That can happen sometimes with this drug."
"What should we do if it does?"
"Then get the doctor immediately. If his fever gets much higher, it could kill him." So someone was sick? Well that didn't sound fun. Something wet and cold forced its way down his burning throat. Water, he thought. As cool as the liquid was, it still hurt to swallow. He coughed. The oxygen mask once again started digging into his skin. He struggled to sit up again. A pair of strong hands tried to push him back down. He aimlessly threw a few punches. Was it really such a crime to just sit up? Something crashed to the floor with a loud shatter.
"Ow!". Serves you right, he thought. The door to the room opened again.
"Is everything alright?…" A new voice. Probably male, although it was hard for Ed to tell in his state of mind. "…Oh dear" the newcomer rushed over to the bed. Another pair of hands grabbed his arms. But he continued to wrestle his way to freedom.
"Don't touch me. Get off!" he choked, while continuing to throw punches. A pair of hands found his arms and pinned them down. He squirmed to get loose, kicking with his feet. He didn't like it. Not one bit.
"GET THE HELL OFF OF ME! STOP IT! NO! SOMEONE HELP ME! ANYO-" a hand clamped over his mouth. Was that mustang?
"Everyone get out! Now!" The newcomer shouted. "You can stay Mr. Mustang. Thank you for your help." The door opened and everyone but mustang, the doctor and the nurse was gone. Ed continued to squirm, but it was no use. He bit furiously at the hand hand covering his mouth. It worked. Mustang pulled it away.
"Edward stop it right now! They're just trying to help you." Again? Seriously, did this guy know when to stop? He kicked with his left foot. Hard. There was a short wince of pain.
"GO TO HELL!" He managed to squeeze in before his victim recovered and pinned his legs down.
"Fullmetal, calm down! You're going to harm either yourself or someone else. And stop acting like a three year old!"
"I'LL STOP ACTING LIKE A THREE YEAR OLD WHEN YOU STOP ACTING LIKE YOU THINK YOU KNOW WHAT THE HELL YOU'RE DOING!" He struggled furiously for a minute. He was forced to roll over onto his stomach.
"GET YOUR FILTHY HANDS OFF OF ME!" He shouted. He felt a stab of pain in the back of his neck and winced. He tried to shout, to tell them that it hurt. But he couldn't. His tongue wouldn't listen to his brain.
"No, no! Stop it! that's enough. If you give him any more you'll stop his heart! Careful, careful!"
The pain was gone now. His limbs felt heavy. He tried to roll over onto his back. Everything was numb and unresponsive. Luckily, someone did it for him. He felt strange. He wanted to sit up, to keep yelling and screaming at them to leave him alone. But he couldn't move. Everything turned blurry. It was hard to hear. People spoke quietly, as if from a distance. And there was no background noise. No more beeping, no more hum of the oxygen mask that he was hooked up to, no more footsteps from outside, or patients from other rooms mumbling to their doctors and nurses. But it was peaceful. His ears rung from the deathly loud noises he was forced to endure earlier, but it felt good to just relax. But...no something was wrong. This wasn't normal. This wasn't supposed to happen. They had done something to him. What though? His eyelids slowly closed as everything faded into a silent, peaceful, unnaturally still darkness
The Docter stepped out of the room. everyone looked up expectantly.
"You are free to go back in" he said. Alphonse and Winry were the first ones to reach the door.
"Wow. How did you get him to calm down like that…" he trailed off, noticing the syringe half emptied of the liquid inside it. He panicked for a second. The doctor seemed to notice, and chuckled.
"Don't worry about him. It's just a mild sedative. He should be fine in several hours."
"Why does he need that?"
"Oh it's nothing major. He was just having a fit and we didn't want him to hurt someone. Or himself."
"Oh" he walked over to the bed and stood next to it. Winry reached out a hand and twirled his blonde hair in her fingers.
"I just hope he's going to be ok. The doctors don't think he has much longer."
"Don't remind me."
Hours passed. Ed didn't show any signs of life, other than the beeping of the heart monitor. Al looked at the clock on the table next to the bed. 2:27 in the morning. Everyone was asleep, except for Al. Winry had been awake with him for most of the night, but now she was starting to doze off in her chair. Al was left alone. He buried himself in his thoughts, hoping his brother would be ok, hoping that he would wake up soon. He was so caught up in his worries that the slight whimpering he heard practically made him jump out of his seat. Winry picked her head up in surprise.
"Al? What's wrong?" She asked sleepily. Al pointed to Ed in response. She followed his finger and her eyes went wide with worry.
"Al! Alphonse! Come back! No! It's all my fault! It's all my fault." He whimpered. His hand curled into a weak fist. "I'm sorry Al. I'm so sorry. It's all my fault." He breathed unevenly in his sleep. "No! Please don't hurt me. Please don't hurt me. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." Al knelt down beside him and gently shook his shoulder.
"Don't hurt me. Please. It was a mistake." Al shook harder and golden eyes snapped open.
"Mom?" He asked. "Please forgive me. I didn't know what would happen. Please. I'm sorry."
"Brother? Brother it's me, Alphonse."
"Al?"
"Brother it's ok. You were just having a bad dream."
"Alphonse?"
"What is it?"
"Can you get me some water?"
"Of course. Anything else?"
"No, thank you" Al walked out of the room in pursuit of a water fountain and a glass. Ed waited for the door to shut before he spoke again.
"Winry? Can I talk to you about something," Winry said nothing, just looked at him expectantly.
"I overheard you, Al, and Mustang talking. I've been thinking about it a lot, and I know the doctors don't think I'm going to live much longer".
"What? Of course you're going to live."
"No I'm not. I heard the whole thing. They know what they're talking about." The two were silent for a few heartbeats.
"Can I ask you something?"
"You can ask me anything. I'm here for you, Ed. Don't you ever forget that."
"Can I have a few last requests?"
Winry nodded. Her eyes stung with tears, but she refused to let them fall, for Ed's sake. She didn't want to believe that he was really going. But there was no trying to convince him otherwise. Edward knew the truth when he saw it.
"If…" he swallowed hard. "I know my time is limited. I want you to tell Alphonse that I'm going to miss him, and that I hope he'll be able to forgive me someday."
Winry nodded again. "I will"
"And tell Roy…tell him to help my brother get his body back. Beg him if you have to. I've broken enough promises already. I can't afford to break the only one that matters".
"Yes, of course" she choked. As hard as she tried, she couldn't hold back the tears any longer.
"And give the others my thanks. For everything. They all helped me out so much. I'll never be able to repay them as long as I live."
Winry reached for Ed and pulled him into a bone crushing hug. She buried her face in his chest and let out a huge muffled sob.
"Please don't leave me here alone Ed? Please? I love you so much. I don't know what I'd do without you." He pushed her away from him. She let her arms go limp. He looked up, silent tears streaming down his own face. She was surprised.
"You're crying?" she said
"Can I ask you one last thing?"
"Y-yes. What is it?" She sniffed.
"You have to promise"
"Promise what?"
"Do you promise me?"
"I—"
"Promise?"
"I promise"
"Don't cry after I'm gone? Please? I hate it when you cry because of me."
Winry responded with another choked sob, but she stopped herself and wiped her eyes on her sleeve. Before she even knew what she was doing, she brought Her face close to his and kissed him, much to his surprise. But he didn't pull away. He put his arm around her shivering form and pulled her close to him. The door opened, but they didn't notice the suit of armor standing in the corner quietly, waiting, trying so hard not to disturb the moment. Finally, they broke apart.
"I love you too, Winry."
"Just say hello to everyone for me when you get there?"
"I promise." He smiled.
Something changed hands. The heart monitor suddenly sped up. He cried out in pain and grasped his head in his only remaining hand.
"Whats happening?"
"I don't…know…! I… cant breathe…" he managed. Winry placed the oxygen mask back over his mouth and nose. He gasped, sucking in the fresh air greedily. A shatter sounded from the direction of the door. Alphonse had found the water.
"BROTHER!" Eyes opened and heads snapped up, now fully alert. Roy was the first one to jump to the rescue.
"What's going on?" He demanded. "We need to get a doctor!" Roy rushed out of the room, searching the hospital for someone, anyone who could help. Al was too shocked to move, and Winry stood next to Ed, searching her brain for anything she could use to help. She practically grew up reading medical textbooks! How hard was this going to be? There was a long beep. The line went flat. No heartbeat? No! He couldn't be dead. Roy jogged in, followed by a doctor. Thank god! They had to save him before it was too late. She once read that if you work quickly enough, you can restart the heart, somehow. But how? They had to hurry… Someone placed a hand on her shoulder and gently guided her out. She couldn't see who it was through the tears that welled in her eyes. She blinked. She wasn't going to cry. After all, she made a promise. What kind of a person would she be if she broke it? She let herself fall into a chair. Everyone was outside of the room now, sitting in the waiting area. It was probably better that way. Surely it was easier for the doctor to work without a ton of people leaning over his shoulder. Winry tried so hard to keep the tears from falling, all the while reminding herself about the promise. Seconds stretched into minutes. The wait was horrible. After what felt like hours, the doctor finally stepped out of the room, cautiously closing the door behind him. Everyone looked up expectantly once more. He nodded, with a slight smile on his lips. He reopened the door, and held it until everyone was back in the room. Ed was there, sitting up in the bed, with a confused expression. He was okay!
"Hey" came a faint voice. Everyone stared. "What's..."
"EDWARD ELRIC DON'T YOU EVER SCARE ME LIKE THAT AGAIN!" Al shrieked.
"Shhhhhhhhh"
"Sorry" Al whispered sheepishly.
"Welcome back, Ed. I missed you. We all did." Winry said in a surprisingly calm voice.
"I missed you too"
"Why don't you try to get some sleep. I finished your arm, and I think it needs reattaching soon." Winry told him. Ed stared back blankly for a couple seconds before answering.
"Sounds like a plan," he agreed, closing his eyes and resting his head back down on the pillow.
A/n: so I'm back again. What did you guys think? Please leave me a review. this was my first serious fanfiction(I have written some crack fics in the past, but I deleted it from ), so I don't know. Tell me what you guys think.
Constructive criticism is always welcome. Also if you have any ideas for something you want me to write in the future, PM me. I already have a list of a few ideas, but not many. I'd like to keep it long. Thanks! Don't forget to review!