A Soldier's Decision
Private Ethan Thomas waved goodbye as his friend James drove away in his battered Ford pickup, leaving the twenty-year old man standing on the curb across the street from his house with his military-issued dirty green canvas duffle bag slung casually over his right shoulder. Ethan allowed a relieved smile to creep across his face as he took in a deep breath of fresh mountain air laced deeply with the aromatic tang of pine. After over a year in the service stationed in Iraq, it was a blessing to be able to breathe and not take in a lungful of dust and sand. The man's mouth twitched up into a knowing smirk as he looked across the street and focused on his house. He hadn't told anyone, except James, that he was going to be on leave for the next six weeks and would be coming home.
'Heh, won't Annora be surprised,' he thought as he shifted the shoulder strap up into a more comfortable position and took a step off the curb to cross the street, only to freeze in his tracks when he caught sight of some movement over by the back gate leading to his house. Ethan's eyes widened in surprise when he saw that the source of the movement was Annora coming out the back gate with her backpack on.
'What in the…? What's Annora doing? She looks like she's sneaking out or something.'
As Ethan watched curiously, Annora shut the gate behind her before she set off down the street, whistling faintly as she did so. The sixteen-year old was obviously unaware of her pursuer as she headed over in the direction of her bus stop. Ethan, after mulling things over for a few short moments decided to follow her, taking care to stay out of hearing range.
The man followed his younger sister determinedly, staying as close to her as he possibly could without her noticing him. Why was she sneaking out, especially when it was almost dark out? Numerous reasons filtered through Ethan's mind, all of them unlikely; she was meeting someone, she had gotten in trouble at school, she was going to meet a boy. Ethan had to suppress a muffled snort of disbelief at the last one. He was fairly certain that Annora wasn't going to meet a boy; he knew his sister well enough to safely assume that. The twenty-year old knew that most of the boys Annora's age at her school couldn't handle her strong spirit, much less her attitude.
Ethan was so lost in his mental musings that he almost missed Annora rounding a corner into a dark alley. The man frowned as he peered around the corner of the building that formed one of the sides of the alley. What was his little sister doing in a place like this? Didn't she know how dangerous alleys like this could be?
Just as Ethan was about to work himself into a temper and run after Annora to give her a lecture, he saw three shadowy figures detach themselves from the deep shadows in the silent alley and follow his sister. To his immense surprise, Annora noticed these followers, and quickly sped up her pace in response.
'Just what the hell is going on?' Ethan wondered as he began to jog after the stalkers following his sister. 'Who're these creeps, and why isn't Annora trying to take them down like she normally does?'
Ethan's hazel eyes narrowed dangerously as he pressed himself up against the alley wall, peering around the corner cautiously. He would hold off until one of those street punks tried to attack his little sister. After that, well, let's just say that those poor bastards had better hope that they had already drawn up their will.
--
Annora ducked into a side alley that led over to the main street and ran for all she was worth. She really didn't need this right now; she was supposed to meet Ed and Al not far from where she currently was. An aggravated growl rose up in the teenager's throat as she raced for the opening leading to the main street. Why weren't these creeps leaving her alone? The teenager received her answer in the form of yet another street punk dropping down from the rooftop of one of the buildings lining the alley, effectively blocking her only escape route. Annora let out a silent curse when she realized that she was trapped with three gangsters behind her and one in front of her.
'Damn! Those jerk offs have me blocked on either side!' she realized as she assumed a defensive stance with her back against the rough brickwork of the alley wall. 'It's almost as if they…no way… that's not possible. It's almost as if… they planned it like this…'
One of the punks, obviously the leader of the group, stepped forward and smirked at her knowingly.
"Hey there, sweetheart. What's a pretty little thing like you doing in a place like this so late at night?"
Annora looked at the man and gave him a disarming smile a split second before she expertly lashed out with her right leg and kicked him directly in the stomach. The man's eyes bugged out as the air was driven from his lungs and he slumped to the ground, gasping desperately for breath. The remaining three gang members glared at the girl with a mixture of anger and astonishment etched clearly onto their tattooed faces.
"You're going to pay for that, bitch!" one of them spat as he pulled out a switchblade from the folds of his ripped jacket. Annora's eyes widened slightly in fear just as two things happened at once. The first thing she saw was a burly shadowy figure come hurtling around the corner that she had gone around not two minutes before and throw itself bodily at the gangster closest too it. The second thing was Edward suddenly appearing at the opening of the alley that went into the street and planting his foot right into the face of the gangster with the switchblade. Needless to say, the man went flying backwards and didn't get up.
"Ed!" Annora cried out as she dodged a blow from the street punk that she had kicked in the stomach before she delivered a powerful kick to the jaw that knocked the man senseless. "What took you so long?!"
Ed opened his mouth to respond just as one of the gangsters made possibly the biggest mistake of his life.
"Hey, this guy's nothing more than a little kid! Hey, shorty, go back home before you get hurt!" the man called out jeeringly. Ed responded with a jump kick to the face before he transmuted a blade onto his automail arm. Annora winced when she caught sight of the expression on the boy's face. All hell was about to break loose.
"WHO'RE YOU CALLING A TINY LITTLE MIDGIT THAT CAN ONLY HIDE BEHIND HIS MOTHER'S SKIRT, HUH, HUH?!" he raged as he grabbed the remaining two men by the collars of their jackets and spun around in a circle several times before he released them, sending them flying into the unyielding brick walls that lined either side of the alley. Both of the punks were knocked senseless.
Annora gave a low whistle of admiration as she purposely trod on the hand of the man that had gone after her with the switchblade.
"Geez Ed, do you think you maybe went just a little overboard?" she asked as the Fullmetal Alchemist went over to her and checked her over for any injuries.
"No," he responded flatly, golden eyes staring straight into her own chocolate ones. "That one bastard had a knife that he obviously had no problem using on you."
A loud meaty thud behind the two teens interrupted their conversation. Annora's eyes widened slightly as she turned around to face the person that had taken out one of her stalkers. The sixteen-year old was surprised to see that the man was holding the street punk up by his collar as he delivered punch after punch to the man's face and stomach.
"Umm, excuse me," she began politely, "but I think he's learned his lesson by now, sir. Thanks for your help."
"'Sir'?" the man asked incredulously as he let go of the gangster's collar and turned around to face Annora. "Since when have you ever called me 'sir'?"
"ETHAN?!" Annora yelped in surprise as she stared at her older brother in complete and utter disbelief. "How-how did you get here?!"
Ethan smirked knowingly at his younger sister as he painfully ground the heel of his boot into the small of the man's back while Ed discretely shot the older man a filthy look. "I get back from Iraq on leave after being over there for fifteen months, and all you can say is 'what're you doing here'? Sheesh, and here I was thinking that you were worried about me."
Annora crossed her arms over her chest and scowled as she glared at the twenty-year old.
"Yeah, well that still doesn't explain why you're here though." The teenager's eyes widened as a thought suddenly hit her. "Hey, you followed me, didn't you?!"
"Guilty as charged," Ethan responded with a smile. Annora made an aggravated sound in the back of her throat as she clenched her right fist and brought it up to eye level.
"Why you lousy-" she began, only to be interrupted by Alphonse and Colonel Mustang as the two came running around the corner.
"Brother, why'd you take off like that- oh, hi Annora."
The sixteen-year old turned around to face the youngest Elric and smiled. "Hey Al."
Mustang leered as he looked at the scene before him, glancing curiously over at Ethan, who looked like he was about to go into shock.
"So, Fullmetal, is there some reason why you and your girlfriend are in a deserted alley? Trying to find someplace private to kiss?" he jabbed, inwardly smirking when both Ed and Annora went bright red.
"WHAT?!" Annora roared as she glared at the Flame Alchemist. "What the hell gave you that idea?! Not to mention why are you here to begin with?!"
"I had some things to take care of after work and I was on my way back to HQ when I saw Fullmetal running towards this area like his life depended upon it, so I decided to see what's so important for the runt."
Ed muttered something under his breath that sounded foul, and Annora caught the words 'bastard' and 'wish he'd get eaten by a homunculus'. The teenager couldn't help it; she let out an amused snort before she managed to cover her mouth with her hand. She knew Ed well enough by now to know that he didn't mean it; he was just frustrated with Mustang's constant butting into his business. Unfortunately, Annora's action immediately attracted the attention of a certain morally bankrupt Colonel.
"What's so funny, might I ask?"
"Your face," Annora muttered sarcastically. Mustang frowned and crossed his arms over his chest as he shot a dirty look at the girl.
"You know, that could be called insubordination," the Flame Alchemist growled. Annora shot the older man a sarcastic smirk as she made a disbelieving noise in the back of her throat.
"Well, I guess it's a good thing that I'm not in the military then, huh?" she shot back. Ed was forced to cover his mouth to suppress a snicker as Mustang glared at Annora. Almost immediately, Mustang re-directed his glare towards the teenage alchemist.
"Shut up, Fullmetal."
"Make me, Colonel Bastard."
Ethan, by this point, had recovered from the shock of seeing a walking suit of armor come around the corner. The twenty-year old decided to find out just what the heck was going on.
"Annora, who are these people, asides from the pipsqueak?" he demanded, walking up to his younger sister. "I recognize him from your webcam, but not the rest of them. Not to mention just what exactly is going on?"
The young man shot Ed a suspicious look before he then directed his attention over to Mustang, who looked strangely pleased at the possibility of Annora getting chewed out by some random person that happened to be in the alley.
"You," he muttered, pointing a finger at the Colonel, "You sound really familiar."
Ed looked back at Annora, who had gone a deathly shade of white at Ethan's questions. The teenage alchemist went over to his friend and waved a hand in front of her face.
"Hello, is anybody home?" he asked. Annora's eyes regained their focus and she let out a small gasp.
"I'm so dead," she muttered, burying her face in her hands. "How am I supposed to explain this to my brother?"
"You could always hit him over the head and have Al carry him home and tell him that it was a dream."
"That wouldn't work; his skull is thicker than yours."
"Hey!"
Ed scowled at Annora, who gave an abashed grin and shrugged.
"Sorry, but it's true. He cracked his head against a metal pole on the playground once while playing tag, and it didn't even faze him."
Ed just gave the teenager an annoyed look before he rolled his eyes. As it was, he was not happy about the fact that Ethan was here in Amestris, not to mention the fact that he thought the man was a complete and total asshole.
Before further plans could be discussed, and Ed could open his big mouth to insult Ethan, the sound of two full-grown men arguing heatedly interrupted them. The two teens turned around to see Ethan and Mustang standing face to face with their fists clenched with Al looking between them as he attempted to stop the impending argument.
"Listen, you moron, what reason do you have to bug my sister?" Ethan snarled, his hazel eyes narrowing dangerously. Mustang looked shocked for a second before he regained his cool.
"You had better show more respect for me, boy! I'm a State Alchemist, and not to mention the fact that I am also a member of the Amestris military!" he growled.
"Umm… Colonel?" Al began hesitantly, only to have the man ignore him completely. He then turned over to Ethan.
"Umm… excuse me, sir? Could you…"
Ethan also ignored him as he continued to argue with Mustang.
"Oh, wow, what a coincidence. So am I," Ethan shot back sarcastically. "And guess what, the last person dumb enough to take away something belonging to my sister ended up in the hospital with a broken arm."
"When did I ever steal something from your sister?!"
"Don't think that I don't remember your smug face, you cocky bastard! You're the one that took Annora's computer away from her and tried to talk to me over it while she was in the hospital!" A furious gleam entered his hazel eyes as he glared at the Colonel. "… You've got five seconds to start running before I beat the crap out of you."
Mustang gaped wordlessly at the younger man, while Annora buried her head in her hands and let out a heartfelt groan.
"Oh God, please, just… kill me. Actually, don't kill me, kill my brother instead. Preferably with a really big lightning bolt."
Ed snickered as he patted Annora on the back comfortingly. He knew how Ethan could get just from the few encounters that he had with the man over Annora's webcam. Heck, the twenty-year old had threatened the boy with serious bodily harm the first time he had talked with Ed. Anyone with a brain could tell that if you wanted to court death, the easiest way would be to do anything that Ethan might interpret as a threat to Annora's well-being.
Ed let out another muffled snicker as another thought came to mind: he would pay to see Envy or one of the other Homunculi attempt to attack Annora with Ethan around. Further thoughts as to what might happen were interrupted when Annora let out a reproachful shout.
"Ethan! What do you think you're doing?!"
Ed turned around in time to see the man remove a military-issued pistol from the holster underneath his jacket and aim it point-blank at Mustang. Mustang didn't even blink as he slowly removed his right hand from his pants pocket, revealing the ignition-cloth gloves that he always wore. Annora's eyes widened fearfully as panic hit her. In desperation, the sixteen-year old pulled out the only weapon against her older brother that she had: blackmail.
"Ethan Alexander Thomas! Put your gun away right now before I tell Mom about the time that you knocked up one of the school cheerleaders on prom night!"
Ethan let out a startled yelp, and almost dropped his gun, while Ed and Mustang stared at Annora in shock. The man whirled around to look at her, his face a nasty shade of white.
"H-how… how did you know… about that?!"
Annora looked at him with both eyebrows raised up into her hairline.
"You don't honestly believe that I slept through that, did you?" she pointed out in an obvious tone. "All the noise you two made woke me up, and kept me up. Hell, I didn't want to go to sleep that night because I was afraid of what I might find in my dreams!"
Ethan was staring at his little sister with an expression akin to stunned horror before he let out a groan.
"Oh God, I tainted my little sister's mind!" he cried out. Annora raised an eyebrow delicately as she gave her older brother a skeptical look.
"You're just now figuring this out?" she asked sarcastically. Ethan nodded dumbly, while Ed practically fell over laughing. He couldn't help it; it was hysterical to watch the older man get his butt chewed by Annora, who was at least a half foot shorter that him, not to mention four years younger. It was almost sad… but so funny.
"Fullmetal, what is going on here?" Mustang demanded angrily. Ed looked over at him before he rolled his eyes upwards.
"Ethan is Annora's older brother, Colonel. Seeing as this is the first time that I've met him in person, I can't really say why he's here."
Mustang made an aggravated noise in the back of his throat as he directed his gaze in the younger man's direction. Annora glanced nervously over in his direction before she let out a sigh: Mustang had never been famous for his patience, and Ethan's attitude had done absolutely nothing to help. She was going to have to tell both of them the truth: Ethan, where he was, and Mustang, where she and Ethan were from.
'Lord, give me strength, because this is going to be so much fun,' Annora thought sarcastically as she stepped in between the two men. Ethan actually flinched when he caught sight of the angry look in his sister's eyes. Unlike Mustang, he knew what was coming next.
"Okay, you two both need to grow up and listen!" the sixteen-year old roared as she glared at both men out of the corners of her eyes. Ethan took a step back as Annora whirled around and pointed a finger accusingly at him.
"You need to stop being so damn overprotective and actually let me EXPLAIN things for once before you just jump to conclusions! And you!" Annora spun around to face Mustang, who almost fell flat on his butt in astonishment; the teenager had a look in her eyes not unlike Hawkeye did when she was about to shoot him. "You need to stop being such an asshole and listen to people when they want to tell you something! Not to mention that both of you need to stop pulling out your weapons just when someone insults you! Now clean out your ears and LISTEN to me!"
By this point, Ed was hiding behind Al, who was doing his best to stay out of the teenager's line of sight.
"Brother, I had no idea that Annora could be this scary," Al whimpered. Ed made a face at this.
"Unfortunately, I do," he muttered. "You weren't there when she went after Envy armed only with a broom pole while he was trying to kill her friend when the homunculi attacked her school. The expression on her face alone was enough to give me nightmares for a month."
Ed's mind automatically flashed back to the events that had taken place that day.
"Katie!" Annora shrieked as she struggled up into a sitting position. Gluttony was holding her friend up with one meaty hand wrapped around the back of her neck, a hungry grin on his face.
"Lust, can I please eat this one?" he asked pleadingly. The buxom homunculus gave Katie a considering glance before she nodded her head in agreement.
"Go ahead; we have no use for her. But wait until we dispose of the other one first."
Katie's yellow-green eyes widened in fear as she flailed about desperately in the homunculi's grasp.
"No, you wouldn't want to eat me! I'm a nerd, you'll get nerd germs!" she screamed desperately. A cold trail of fear ran down Annora's spine as a thin line of drool dripped down from Gluttony's mouth.
"Sound's tasty," he said. Annora's eyes narrowed dangerously as her grip on the broom pole she had liberated from the janitor's closet tightened.
"Why you lousy son of a-" she began as she shot to her feet and lunged at Envy with her pole raised. The homunculus smirked knowingly before he lashed out and kicked the teenager in the stomach. Annora's eyes widened in surprise as the force of the homunculi's kick sent her flying over the railing. Everything seemed to slow down just as Envy's words reached her ears.
"Have a nice fall, you stupid wench!" he called out mockingly. Panic surged through Annora's veins and a terrified scream tore from her throat as she began to plummet towards the unyielding ground. She was going to die.
The teen's life flashed through her mind, the memories from the past three months standing out with crystal clarity. Tears sprang unbidden to the corners of her eyes as Ed's face swam into sight in her mind's eye; she would never see him again. She was close to the ground now; she more likely than not wouldn't survive the impact, and if she did, she would be severely incapacitated. Annora clenched her eyes shut and waited for the shooting pain to follow.
"Woah!" a familiar voice yelped as someone jumped up and caught her. Annora's eyes shot open as a familiar pair of mismatched arms wrapped protectively around her. Startled chocolate met astonished gold as the two teens crashed to the concrete. Ed looked at Annora in surprise as she blinked at him and her mouth opened and closed wordlessly for several seconds.
"Ed, is that really you?" she whispered cautiously.
Before he could respond, a piercing scream rent the winter air. Annora's attention immediately snapped over to the second story, where she saw Envy confronting Katie. A murderous light sprung up into the teenager's eyes as her grip on the broom pole tightened. Without a word, Annora sprung to her feet and gripped the pole like she would a baseball bat.
"Hey Al, do you think you can give me a lift?" she asked, glancing back at the possessed suit of armor. Startled from Annora's overall manner, the fifteen-year old nodded before he positioned himself directly underneath the spot on the second story where Katie and the Homunculi were located. Ed looked over at Annora, who had run over to a spot several yards away from Alphonse.
"What are you trying to do?" he asked worriedly. A shiver ran down the Fullmetal Alchemist's spine as the sixteen-year old turned around and grinned wolfishly at him.
"I'm about to go kick some serious Homunculi ass."
With that parting comment, Annora turned around and ran towards Al, who launched her up in the air the moment her left foot fell into his cupped hands. The teenager practically flew up to the second story, where she caught sight of Katie about to be eaten by Gluttony. The only warning that any of the Homunculi had was a slight swishing sound as Annora swung her weapon directly at Lust's head.
"Why don't you try chewing on this?!" she roared out, a murderous glint in her eyes as she simultaneously kicked Envy squarely in the middle of his back, effectively booting the homunculus into Gluttony's open maw, while her makeshift stave collided directly with the back of Lust's head. As a direct result, Katie was dropped from Gluttony's grasp. Annora swiftly reached out and grabbed her friend's hand, dragging her away from the area before the two teens stood up and ran like hell.
"That whole day was pretty scary," Ed muttered, rubbing the back of his head. A startled shout broke his train of thought, accompanied by a yelp of pain. The two brothers turned around to see Ethan hopping up and down, holding his leg and swearing, while Annora glowered at him. Apparently, the teen had kicked her older brother in the shin, and judging from the pistol that lay on the ground where he had dropped it, he and Mustang had been about to get into another fight.
"God! Would you two just GROW UP?!" Annora roared as she glared angrily at the two men. "You're both acting like a couple of first graders arguing over a damn toy! Now just shut up and listen to me!"
Both men immediately closed their mouths and stared at the girl, who glared at them angrily with fire practically shooting from her irises. Annora fixed both of them with a jaundiced look, her chocolate eyes narrowed dangerously.
"Are you both going to act your age, at least for a few minutes?" she asked softly, the tone of her voice indicating that neither Ethan or Mustang had any real choice in the matter. Ethan was the first to nod, knowing his sister all too well to argue. Mustang appeared hesitant for a few moments, only to have Ethan elbow him hard in the stomach before indicating that he should agree as well.
"If you don't want to end up in the nearest trash can, you might want to listen to her," Ethan whispered hoarsely. "I've lived with her for the past sixteen years, so trust me on this one; you do not want her to get mad at you right now."
Mustang looked decidedly nervous before he nodded as well. Annora, goddess of no-nonsense was appeased, at least for the moment.
"Good. Okay, I obviously have a lot of explaining to do, but only if you two behave. If you can't do that, then you obviously aren't mature enough to handle the truth."
With that comment, Annora launched into a detailed explanation as to where she and Ethan were from and the differences between there and Amestris. She then gave further details as to where they currently were, and how it was different from Flagstaff for Ethan's benefit. Once she had finished, Ethan stared at her with an expression of disbelief etched onto his face. He then took a few steps forward and placed a hand against her forehead, obviously feeling for a temperature. Annora scowled and swatted his hand away, glaring angrily at her brother.
"Damn it, Ethan! I'm not sick!"
"Well you're sure acting like you are! Either that or you've been reading too many science fiction novels! Alchemy doesn't exist, and there is no such thing as a State Alchemist!"
Annora stared at her brother incredulously, a multitude of sweatdrops appearing on the back of her head. She glanced over at Edward and Mustang, who were both looking at Ethan like he was nuts.
'And he just said that right in front of two State Alchemists, both of which are completely capable of mopping the floor with him. God my brother is an idiot!'
Ed gave Annora a questioning look as Ethan continued to rant, which she answered by letting out an annoyed sigh and nodding. An evil smirk immediately crossed the Fullmetal Alchemist's face before he relayed Annora's silent request to Mustang. Ethan didn't notice any of this, seeing as he was still yelling.
"I don't know what's gotten into you, but it stops here! I'm not going to allow you to hang around with some kid that pretends he's a walking trashcan, an egotistical bastard that thinks he's a colonel in the military of some made-up country, and a runty little midget that wears his hair in a braid like a girl!"
Annora's eyes grew to about the size of dinner plates as she slowly began to back away from Ethan nervously, glancing over her shoulder to see Edward's reaction. Not surprisingly, a dark cloud had gathered around the alchemist's small form, and Annora thought that she saw a murderous gleam enter her friend's eye. Further inspection showed that Mustang was close to his breaking point as well, and Al was standing stock-still in shock with little oni-bi's floating over his head at being called a walking trashcan. It was only when he finally spoke in a quavering voice that Ed snapped.
"Trash can?"
The human tornado that is Edward Elric descended upon the hapless man.
"WHO DID YOU CALL A MIDGET SO SMALL A PROTOZOA WOULD HAVE A HARD TIME SEEING HIM WITH AN ELECTRON MICROSCOPE?! WHO'RE YOU CALLING A RUNTY LITTLE KID THAT'S SO SMALL THAT HE LOOKS LIKE A GIRL?! NOT TO MENTION WHAT THE HELL IS YOUR PROBLEM CALLING MY BROTHER A WALKING TRASHCAN?! IT'S NOT HIS FAULT THAT HE'S LIKE THAT, SO WHY DON'T YOU JUST SHUT THE HELL UP!!"
Annora had absolutely no pity for Ethan as she flinched at Ed's tone. He had brought this on himself, not only with his ill-chosen 'short' remark, but his comment about Al's appearance as well. Annora had actually seen Ed drop-kick someone that had once made a similar comment, effectively booting them into a very sludgy pool of water. Although Ed didn't attempt to drop-kick Ethan (due to the large difference in size), he did grab the front of the twenty-year old's jacket and drag him down to face level.
"Don't you ever call my brother something like that again!" he hissed, golden eyes shining with a furious light. Annora, who was standing over by Al, smiled grimly as she crossed her arms in front of her chest. Ethan sent a pleading glance over in her direction, his hazel eyes wide.
"Annora, could you please call your crazy friend off me?"
Annora raised an eyebrow delicately as she fixed her older brother with a neutral expression.
"Not until you apologize," she stated in a no-nonsense tone. Ethan's face fell as he stared at the sixteen-year old in horror; he hated to admit that he was in the wrong. Annora recognized his expression and shook her head.
"No, I'm not telling Ed to stop until you apologize to Alphonse for calling him a trash can."
Mustang looked like he was enjoying this little scenario; even though he wasn't too fond of Annora's attitude, her manners were still far better than her brother's. Ethan looked like he would prefer to be force fed poison than say that he was sorry as a frown made its way across his face. Al noticed this and immediately pointed it out to Annora.
"Somehow, I don't think that he's going to apologize," he whispered. Annora let out an aggravated sigh and rolled her eyes as she fixed her older brother with an irritated glare.
"Ethan, you had better apologize within the next ten seconds, or so help me, I will kick your ass so hard that you won't be able to sit for a week!"
Ed smirked at the older man, who had a distinctly sour look on his face. "Bravo. You really know how to make an ass out of yourself, don't you?"
Ethan scowled darkly before a rebellious gleam entered the twenty-year old's eyes as he managed to shove Ed away.
"Annora, I know that you're probably really good friends with these… unique individuals, but-"
Mustang's patience snapped at that point. Ethan had as good as called him and Ed a freak, but mostly him. The oh-so-familiar gleam of the flames of hell coming forth to meet the poor sap that had pissed of the Colonel entered the man's eyes as he removed his right hand from his pocket. Ed saw this and grabbed the collar of Annora's jacket, yanking her back away from Ethan.
"Watch out!"
Ethan looked back at the sixteen-year old and opened his mouth to say something, only to be rendered speechless as the alchemist erected a thick six foot high wall in front of him, Al, and Annora just as Mustang snapped his fingers, causing the ground right by Ethan's feet to explode. The man went an interesting shade of white as he fell flat on his ass. He may have gone through a lot of things in Iraq, but nothing on earth could have prepared him for this.
"What the hell?!"
Mustang smirked at Ethan as he snapped his fingers yet again.
BOOM!
Annora clapped her hands over her ears to block out the sounds of the rapid explosions that erupted, the force shaking the ground beneath them violently. Ed clenched his teeth as he protectively pulled Annora closer to him while they and Al sat with their backs pressed up against the wall that was blocking the flames. After several more teeth-jarring explosions, Mustang finally stopped his assault, satisfied with his work. Ed and Annora peeked around the side of the wall, and the latter flinched when she caught sight of her brother.
Ethan looked like he had stepped on a land mine, although he still had all his limbs intact. The man was covered in scorch marks, and he looked like someone had dumped a bag of coal dust on him, although the thin tendrils of smoke that trailed from his clothes and hair indicated otherwise. Annora gave a low whistle and wrinkled her nose when the wind changed direction and blew the burned smell that clung to her older brother in her direction.
"Geez, that looks like that hurts," she remarked as she stepped out from behind the wall. Ethan looked over at her with a pained grimace before his eyes rolled up into the back of his head and he collapsed on the pavement, out cold.
--
Ethan let out a low groan of pain as he slowly came to. Every inch of his body hurt, even worse than the time when he had fallen asleep at the beach for five hours while wearing no sunscreen and had gotten a horrible sunburn over most of his body. Annora, who was sitting by the couch, looked over at him and let out a sigh of relief.
"You're awake, thank goodness."
"Annora, what hap-"
WHAM!
Ethan yelped, using what sounded like a swear word in Iraqi, as he sat up and rubbed the back of his head while Annora stood over him holding a wrench threateningly.
"Jesus Annora! What the hell was that for?! You just hit me with a freaking wrench!!"
Annora smiled grimly as she shifted her weapon to her other hand and folded her arms over her chest.
"You had no business following me, Ethan!" she growled, fury shining in her chocolate eyes. "And on top of that, you insulted my friends! You're lucky that I hit with only a wrench! Now I'm going to tell you this once, and only once. If you ever follow me to Amestris again, or insult Ed and Al, I will not only knock you into another time zone, but I will call a friend of mine that uses a wrench like this as well, and she hits a hell of a lot harder than I do. Have I made myself clear?"
Ethan hesitated for a few moments, and then nodded hastily when a livid light entered Annora's eyes. He knew better than to argue with his sister when she was this angry. A thought suddenly came to him, and he looked over at Annora.
"Wait a minute, so that means that your friends are from another world?"
Annora let out an aggravated sigh as she glared at her brother.
"What part of that did you not understand the first time I told you that?!" she roared, her chocolate eyes practically blazing with a furious light. Ethan almost fell off the couch as he stared at his younger sister. For some reason, he had a sinking feeling that he was in a heap of trouble.
--
Ed and Al both watched in stunned horror from where they stood outside the living room window of Annora's house as Annora began to chase Ethan around the living room with the wrench she had taken from the tool shed, and then flinched when they heard the all-too-familiar sickening crack of metal meeting skull.
"Brother, I think that we shouldn't let Annora hang around Winry anymore," Al whimpered as he watched the scene unfolding before him nervously.
"I agree. But at least I'm not the one getting wrenched this time," Ed muttered before he smirked at the sight of Ethan trying to go out the back door, which Ed had sealed off earlier using alchemy. "Heh, although he is getting payback for calling me short."
Al just sighed and shook his head as they headed for the back gate. "Brother, you're impossible."
Ed only smirked in response, although it was no surprise that he did. The teenage alchemist was infamous for his temper, and his love of revenge, even though his plots of retribution more often than not failed. With that, the two alchemists vanished into the night, headed back to the opening between Amestris and Flagstaff.
Needless to say, the next morning when he finally regained consciousness, Ethan had one hell of a headache.
--
I think that you can probably tell why I cut this out of 'What One May Never See'. It's pretty good by itself, but it no longer fits into the storyline.