The train bumped and shook along its old, worn tracks, the noise of the wheels clattering over the ground the only sound within the small compartment. There had been barely a word exchanged between its three occupants since they had boarded the train fifteen minutes earlier, and none of them had any intention of changing that anytime soon.
The deceptively childish-looking State Alchemist was hunched to his side, his head resting against the cool window pane, staring blankly at the passing scenery, which was all just beginning to blur together into a mess of greens, browns and random other spots of colour, he guessed from farms or houses or livestock. He couldn't bring his fuzzy, tired mind to focus properly. It was getting really warm in here. Strange. He shifted his head, where his clammy skin had become stuck to the window and left a foggy impression, moving it to rest a few inches to the left. He felt the thick, uneasy atmosphere floating around the car, and vaguely noted that he remembered it being caused by himself, but just didn't have the energy to address it right now. He moved his arms across to hug himself, his right hand subconsciously moving to grasp a certain point on his upper left arm, where a dull, throbbing, hot pain emanated, and let his eyes slowly slip shut.
His brother, although nobody would have guessed it from appearances, being roughly seven foot tall and made of steel, had been watching the groggy teen with mounting concern. He didn't really have any desire to talk to him; Ed had been in an absolutely foul mood since the previous day; arguing with everyone within earshot, throwing insults around, sulking, moping, generally being a pain, and he was perfectly happy to let him be now that he was finally quiet. But he had been a little too quiet for Al's liking for the past couple of hours.
He swivelled his head in its socket to cast a look at the older man sat on the opposite end of Ed's bench, whose dark eyes were staring out of the window into the train's narrow corridors. He clearly couldn't wait to get off this train and have the brat out of his hair. Al had to admit he couldn't blame him. He turned his head to look back at the lightly dozing blonde.
"Colonel?" He finally broke the twenty minute silence, his voice small and unsure and full of concern, and the man turned his gaze toward him.
"Something wrong, Alphonse?" Roy asked, his gaze then reverting to Edward, since he was all Alphonse ever really worried about.
"Does Edward look a little-" he paused when he noticed Ed's eyebrows twitch at the word "-pale to you?"
Now that he looked, Mustang realised Al was right. He mentally groaned; as if he hadn't put him out enough, now he was sick? As he looked, he noticed a dark stain on Ed's coat, where his automail hand was still weakly grasping at the fabric, and something suddenly hit him. He remembered a sneak attack by their suspect, who had been armed with a knife, and Ed had been left with a nasty gash on his arm. The small village was quite poor and not exactly the cleanest of places, and the only substance they'd had in the way of disinfectant was liquor from the inn, so this was to be expected really.
Roy moved closer to Ed and pulled his coat off his left shoulder, gingerly peeling it when he realised it was stuck to his wound, which was not only still bleeding after four days, but also weeping a strange, yellow-green substance, which had dried on the skin surrounding it. The area looked a bit red and swollen, and warm to the touch. Al moved closer to look, and Roy knew he would've been grimacing if he could form expressions.
Almost as soon as Roy placed a hand on it to investigate further, Ed's eyes snapped open and he yanked his arm away, jumping instinctively to his feet, unfocused eyes darting around the compartment; apparently he was having a bit of trouble remembering where he was. Before he'd had chance to gather his surroundings, a burning heat suddenly ripped through his entire body, the train car began to spin and his flesh leg suddenly gave out, sending him banking to his right and landing with a dull thud on the muddy floor. He just stayed there for a long moment, eyes wide with shock as he tried in vain to remember how he'd got here and what had just happened.
"Brother!" Al's hollow voice wailed, and the steel body dove off the seat to the prone boy's aid, gently helping him sit up, his panic escalating by the second as he now realised Ed was sweaty and shaky.
"Al.." Ed murmured, letting himself slump against the cold metal. Most of the time it would have been uncomfortable, but it felt nice against his hot skin.
Roy, who hadn't been far behind Al, reached over to press his palm to Ed's sticky, clammy forehead. It felt cold at first, but an unhealthy amount of heat soon radiated through.
"Alright." Roy muttered, keeping himself calm. This was a bit of a shock, the last person he would've expected this off was Edward, but he didn't want to panic Al any further.
"Alphonse," He said, as much calm authority in his voice as he could muster. Al turned from fussing over his brother to pay attention to the Colonel. "He'll be fine, his arm's just infected. Could you find him a drink of water?"
"Y-yeah… sure..!" Al replied, getting up and rushing from the compartment as Roy rather unceremoniously dragged Ed to his feet and placed him on the hard wooden bench. Ed instantly lay down, burying his face in his arms as he tried to stop his world spinning, breathing deep. With a sigh, Roy ran his fingers through his short, jet black hair and sat next to his subordinate's head, gently laying his hand on the back of the blonde head to get his attention. "Fullmetal?"
All he got in response was what sounded like an attempt to form words, only achieving a feeble little moan.
"Edward, look at me." Ed complied this time, rolling over onto his side to regard the Colonel with hazy, tired eyes.
Roy took it upon himself to grab his shoulder and gently roll him the rest of the way, so that he was laying flat on his back. "Are you all right?" As he spoke he removed Ed's coat, which was still hanging from his right arm, folded it and lifted Ed's head up to place it underneath as a makeshift pillow.
Ed scowled up at the Colonel; he wanted to point out the stupidity of that question; he'd just collapsed in the middle of a train ride, it had taken him a good five minutes to even begin to grasp what was going on; he felt like his clothes were on fire he was so hot, he was sweating absolute buckets and was so weak he couldn't stop himself shaking. Oh yeah, he was just goddamn peachy, thanks for asking.
As it was, Ed shook his head with a shaky "No."
"Dare I ask why you didn't say anything before now?" Mustang inquired, sweeping Ed's sweat-matted bangs out of his face and once again lay a hand over his forehead. Still burning up, not that he expected anything else.
Ed huffed - or at least tried to, it was much less forceful than anticipated and he only managed a small sigh. He noted the amused smirk tugging the corners of Mustang's mouth, and his temper kicked in to pump him full of adrenaline as it had done so many times before.
Struggling to push himself up on one stable automail arm and one shaking flesh one, Ed shot Roy a meek glare. "It's not funny you smug bastard!" He immediately regretted it, swaying as his head ached and his vision began to swim.
"Lie down, you idiot." Roy grabbed his shoulder and gently pulled him back down. Ed sighed, accepting defeat and resting his head back on the now warm fabric of his coat.
The door creaked and Alphonse re-entered the compartment, a glass of water engulfed by his large leather hand. He looked down at his brother, glad to see he had calmed down and was resting, and crouched down beside him.
"How are you feeling?" He asked, and Ed shot him the same incredulous look he'd given Roy. What do you think? He'd wanted to ask, but guessed he'd probably given poor Al enough verbal abuse since he'd started feeling unwell. "About as good as I look, I guess." He admitted, eyeing the glass in the younger Elric's hand. Come to think of it, he was pretty thirsty.
"Well, you look awful. Here." He held out the glass, and Roy helped Ed sit. He took it in both hands, and sipped at it, looking a little sheepish.
"What's wrong?" Al asked, noting that Ed had turned his gaze to the ground and seemed to be using the water as an excuse not to speak.
He looked at Al, and sighed. "I'm just tired."
Al paused to look closely at Ed, before huffing out an annoyed sigh and resuming his seat opposite. "Whatever you say, Brother."
Ed gulped his mouthful of water, and placed the empty glass on the floor, watching Al with foggy confusion in his eyes. "Al?"
"Just go back to sleep." Alphonse replied shortly, turning to look out the window. Ed frowned, feeling himself being tugged down again into a lying position. His eyes were heavy, and his vision was beginning to blur again. This could probably wait…
He was asleep as soon as his head reached his coat.
Silence had fallen back over the three of them, save for the odd piteous little sound from Ed. Roy had been keeping a dutiful eye on the boy, whose face was now slightly flushed, and sweat was beading on his forehead. His shirt was a little damp, and he seemed in a fair amount of distress in whatever dreams he was having, tossing and turning and whimpering quietly.
"Alphonse?" He said softly after a short while, deciding he might as well try and diffuse the tension between the pair of brothers; there was at least another hour to go on the train and then he'd probably have to hang around until Ed received treatment, and he didn't especially want to be stuck in the middle of yet another bickering match.
"Yeah?" Al replied, that characteristic softness still in his voice, yet his tone made it obvious he didn't really want to talk.
"What's eating you?" He ventured, thinking he might as well just get to the point.
A hollow sigh echoed around the steel body. "Brother never tells me anything unless he has to. It's like he thinks I'm too weak to deal with anything negative."
Roy sighed, "You know it's nothing like that. He just doesn't want you to worry unnecessarily."
Al looked over at his brother's sleeping form. "I'm worried now."
Roy nodded. "Like I said, he'll be fine-"
"It's not about that!" Al cut him off, and Ed stirred a little before settling down again. "I'm not blind, Colonel." He continued, calmer now. "I know he blames himself and I know why he does things like this. I just… I feel like I'm just baggage sometimes."
Roy looked slightly taken aback. "Alphonse, you know that's not true…"
"How is it not?" Al replied, his voice raising in tone again. "I'll bet any money the only reason he didn't mention he was sick was because of me, and now look!"
Ed stirred again with a tiny moan, and Roy absently felt his warm, damp forehead, and brushed away wisps of hair that had become stuck to the moisture on his face. He had to admit, that part was probably true. "Al… you can only do as much as he lets you do."
"I know. That's the worst thing." Al sighed again. "I'm here to help him. Without that…" He looked at the ground. "If he doesn't need me, what's the point of existing in a body like this?"
Taken by surprise, Roy sighed and looked down at his lap. He didn't think he'd ever felt as bad for anyone as he felt for Alphonse at that moment.
"Al…" Came a tiny, raspy voice, making both of them jump and look down at Ed, who was gazing blearily at his brother. "I'm sorry. I'm still messing up… after all this time." He was shivering now, it felt like the sweat coating his entire body had frozen. "I always thought… it wasn't my place to make you worry…"
There was a pause, in which the shivering grew worse. "Cold?" The Colonel asked, and Ed nodded. Roy leaned over to grab his long black coat from under his seat to drape over him as a blanket.
"Brother, I worry about you all the time. I'm the one without a mortal body; I'm the one who should be taking on all the stress." Al had walked over and was crouched by him now, almost face to face.
"Yeah… maybe." Ed sighed, closing his heavy eyes. "But you know me, I like to make life awkward."
Al laughed, "You said it, not me."
"Oh, and I know you hate that body." He was beginning to run out of energy to even talk now. Damnit. "I'm sorry for that, too. We'll get your old one back." His voice was starting to fade out now.
"Brother- I didn't mean it like that-"
"Yeah yeah, calm down. I know." Ed sighed. "You know I need you, Al. I always have. That's why I put you in that body. You're not expendable. Not by a long shot."
Ed opened his eyes again to find Al's shining back at him, and knew he'd be beaming if he could. "Yeah. We'll do this, Brother. Together."
"Yup." Ed lifted his automail arm from under Roy's coat and held it out toward his brother, curling the fingers into a fist. "Together." Al bumped the steel fist with his enormous leather hand, at least twice the size, and nodded. "You look tired. Maybe you should sleep some more."
"Sounds like a plan," Ed murmured, the energy to speak completely dwindled now. He was still exhausted, and had felt sleep tugging insistently at his eyes throughout the whole conversation, and now he finally succumbed to it, letting it take him away into a peaceful abyss.
A few minutes passed in relaxed calm, Al taking a seat next to Ed's feet, Ed falling into a deep, subdued sleep, and Mustang watching the pair, wondering how such a cheesy moment had just played out right in front of him. And feeling slightly ridiculous for being so touched by it.
"He's a pain in the backside, isn't he Colonel?" Alphonse said, tugging at the coat to make sure it was covering his brother properly, and Roy smirked.
"You're right about that." But, watching Ed sleep soundly, he knew he'd miss the kid if he were gone, and not just because he made his job easier.
Roy sighed, first Hawkeye, then Hughes, now the Elrics. Why did he always seem to gravitate toward the most difficult or irritating people he could find? Then again, he probably wasn't much better himself.
He placed a gentle hand on Ed's rosy, clammy cheek, a smile breaking his features. He looked back over at Al, who was doing everything possible to make sure his brother was comfortable, and suddenly felt like he had a better understanding of them both. They were inseperable; the only sure thing they had in a world of uncertainty. They were all they had fullstop. They were what he lived for, his friends and the rest of his country. And he wouldn't have them any other way.