Just thought I'd try a new type of story to write about. This is a one-shot, but if I get 10 or more reviews who want it to be a two-shot, then I'm happy to write a new chapter.
Ed and Al were sat in the train back to Central. They'd spent the past few days in Resembool, receiving repairs to Ed's automail after a mission. The train was speeding through the countryside, and Ed watched out the window as trees and hills passed by the window.
"Brother," began the suit of armour that housed his younger brother's soul. "Maybe you should get some sleep. We won't arrive for another hour or so and you look tired.
" Ed opened his mouth to deny it, but yawned instead. "I guess so..." He lay down across the seat, pulling his red jacket over him like a blanket.
Al would've been grinning if he could. His brother was barely filling the seat. The two-person seat. He looked out the window. Ahead, he could see the track curving round.
Al cocked his head. He could have sworn he saw something small and black on the track ahead. He sighed and sat back in his seat. It was probably nothing.
Approximately five minutes later, Al was startled out of his thoughts by the sound of a massive explosion. People screamed as the train shook, before it slowly rolled over and into the cliffside to the left.
Al panicked. "Brother!" He frantically looked around him, but saw no sign of Ed.
People everywhere were coughing and holding injuries. Nothing looked too bad, just a few cuts and bruises.
"Brother!" he yelled again.
A middle aged man stumbled over to him. "Have you lost someone?"
"My brother," Al told him desperately. "He was sleeping opposite me and now I can't find him!"
The man nodded and turned to a few men nearby. "We're missing this boy's brother. Probably just a kid. Let's help him search." The men nodded and began searching the carriage.
Al couldn't tell how long they were looking, he only knew it felt like years. Years in which his brother could be injured or worse. He felt lost. Ed was always there for him, always there to make him feel better. And now he was missing and Al was alone.
"Hey, over here!" yelled a man, who was standing by a mound of collapsed roofing and rocks from the cliff. "I think we found 'im!"
Al raced over immediately. Sure enough, there was an arm sticking out from under a sheet of steel. Al instantly lifted the steel away to reveal his brother.
Ed was unconscious, which a layer of dust over his face. Al noticed that the scar above his right eye had opened up and was making a stream of blood flow down his face.
"Brother!" Al bent down an attempted to pick him up.
Ed let out a groan and Al realized he couldn't move his brother. Looking closer, he saw that both Ed's right leg and automail arm were trapped under a slab of shale.
A man behind him winced. "Man, that's gotta hurt. No wonder kid's out cold."
Al turned to him and another beside him. "I can use alchemy to remove the stone so it doesn't collapse anything else on top of him, but I'll need you to get him out as soon as his arm and leg are free. I don't know how long the rock will hold."
The men nodded and held Ed. One had an arm under his waist and and the other arm beneath his legs, whilst the second man took his head and upper torso.
"Just a warning, he's heavier than he looks." Was all Al said before digging a chalk stick out of Truth-knows-where in his armour. He quickly drew a transmutation circle on the shale before pressing he hands to it. A blue light illuminated the destroyed carriage and once anyone could see, the rock curved slightly over Ed's body. The men holding him quickly pulled him up and away from the rubble.
Al instantly rushed to Ed's side.
"Brother..?"
Ed's response was a pained groan, proving that he was at least alive.
Suddenly, Al heard a screech of tyres and looked up to see two military cars pull up beside the wreckage. A black haired man in a blue uniform stepped out the passenger side of one, and from the driver's side came a woman with her blonde hair up.
"Colonel Mustang? Lieutenant Hawkeye?" whispered Al. Then he shouted. "Colonel! Lieutenant! Help!"
The two looked over to him. He saw a look of surprise flash across their faces, followed by worry, and finally masked by the calm military façade. The rushed to his side.
"Alphonse? What happened? Where's Fullmetal?" asked Hawkeye.
"The train. Exploded. Brother's hurt." Was all Al managed to tell her, full of worry over the still unconscious Ed.
Mustang looked over at Ed, seeing him at last in Al's arms, and swore.
"Havoc! Get a medic over here, now!" he called to one of the figures stepping out of the other car.
Mustang turned back to Ed. "Al, let me check him over."
Al nodded and handed Ed to the Colonel, who began checking the bones. After a minute he looked up.
"Well it's not as bad as it looks. Sprained left elbow, broken right leg and a few bruises. Possibly a concussion from that head wound. He should be fine."
Al sighed in relief. Just then a fairly aged man in a white uniform bearing the State symbol hurried over.
He glanced at Ed. "We'll take him to the hospital."
Mustang nodded and handed Ed back to Al. The younger Elric followed the man over to a white van that vaguely resembled an ambulance. They got in and were soon driving towards the nearest State hospital.
Once they arrived, Ed was taken away from Al, forcing him to sit in the waiting room. Although there were only a few other people there, there was a very awkward silence. Al sighed. He knew he was intimidating in his armour, but he was in a hospital. After carrying someone to get help, surely it was obvious he was good?
Al sat and waited. And waited. And waited. The hands of the clock on the wall moved around, showing the minutes ticking away. Maybe it was because it was so quiet, but each minute felt like hours, dragging on. After what felt like a few days, although the clock told him it had only been about three quarters of an hour, a doctor entered.
"Alphonse Elric?"
Al stood and made his way over. The doctor led him out the room. As they walked down the halls, he informed him of Ed's condition in a very professional voice.
"He appears to have broken his right leg and a few ribs. His left elbow is sprained, and his automail's destroyed. Other than that he seems fine." As they reached the door, he turned to Al with a smile. "He's been asking for you." he turned the handle and stepped aside to let Al in.
The room was brightly lit, and almost completely white. In the middle was a bed with white sheets. But Al paid no notice. His eyes were for the person in the bed.
Sitting up (although having to lean against the headboard to do so) with a food tray on his lap was Ed, currently having some form of glaring contest with the milk carton in front of him.
Al sighed. "If you don't drink your milk, you'll never be tall."
Ed jumped and looked at Al. "Al!"
Unnoticed by either of them, the doctor smiled again and left the room quietly.
"How are you feeling, Brother?"
Ed shrugged. "Fine. Although not really looking forward to the future."
Al tilted his head. "Why's that?"
"You do realize we have to go back to Resembool and I have to tell Winry I broke her automail again, within a day of getting it fixed." Ed looked slightly pale at the prospect of Winry, or more specifically her wrench. "She's gonna kill me."
"I'm sure she won't, Brother. She'll understand it wasn't your fault."
"I hope so."
The door opened again, and this time it was Mustang and Hawkeye.
"Good to see you alive, Fullmetal."
Ed glared. "You sound oh so caring, Colonel."
Before Ed and Mustang could get into another verbal war, Al turned to Hawkeye.
"Did you find out what caused the crash?"
She nodded, looking grave. "It was a bomb on the tracks. Seems someone knew Ed was on the train and decided to get rid of him."
Ed looked shocked. "So... It was all my fault?"
Sensing his brother about to start blaming himself for matters beyond his control, again, Al intervened. "No, Brother. You had no way of knowing and no way of preventing it."
Mustang nodded. "He's right. We think the culprits are a terrorist group looking to destroy the military. I guess they thought starting with the most famous alchemist was a good idea."
"But still... If it weren't for me, then those people wouldn't be hurt!"
Hawkeye shook her head. "It wasn't your fault. And seemingly, you were the only person who didn't have the sense to duck under the tables like everyone else, so you were the only one who got more than a few scratches."
"Hey!" Ed protested. "I was asleep!"
Hawkeye smiled. Mustang nodded once to each brother, before leaving the room again, his Lieutenant close behind.
"So..." began Ed in a nervous tone. "I guess I'd better call Winry."
Just minutes later, the hospital almost shook with the force of the yell.
"You WHAT?"