AN: Disclaimer: We own nothing but any OCs that pop up in the future. Yep.
Lily: Hey-o! :D My, it's been a while.
Esmi: Yea XP
Lily: Explanation=life. Anyway, our betas are hard at work, and now the first chapter is officially betad, and everything from here on is betad too (besides our ANs, cuz eh, whatever). Yay! In case ya didn't catch the addition to the first AN, I said that things are somewhat AU (and this is 4 years after the Promised Day). One change has been mentioned in passing already and will be fully explained later, and this chapter has the other thing that's different from canon. Hehehe.
Esmi: *slaps a hand over Lili's mouth* OK that's enough out of you or you're gunna spoil the whole chapter for the readers
Lily: *is tempted to lick her hand* *muffled grumbling*
Esmi: Well then. On with the chapter *drags Lili out of the room before she gets any more bright ideas*
An Unexpected Reunion
"Are you serious, Al?!" Winry was holding her fork inches from her face, her meal of pasta and salad completely forgotten for a few seconds. "Elephants?!"
Alphonse leaned over the table at the open-air cafe with a grin as he continued his story, quite excited he'd get to share his adventures with them in person. "He and his lackeys also had guns. The only thing I had to defend myself with was my alkahestry."
"So they were shooting at you from the backs of elephants and you managed to evade all of them?" Ed raised his eyebrow at his little brother, stuffing his sandwich into his mouth after the question.
Al swallowed a bite of his own Reuben sandwich before continuing his story. "I was on a horse, so at least I wasn't on foot, but I did get shot in the stomach, and a few other bullets grazed me." Al lifted up his shirt sleeve to show a small scar on his upper arm near his shoulder. "The prince also knew some alkahestry, so that made things even harder."
"Wait, you don't mean Ling, do you?" Ed questioned at the "prince" part.
"Huh? Oh, I thought I already mentioned that the guy attacking us was the prince of one of the other rival clans."
"No, you didn't!" Winry shouted, her fork bending as her grip tightened. She had never learned much about Xingese politics. "Oops," she added when she noticed Ed's eyes glancing back and forth between her face and her hand.
"Huh. Okay, I'll admit it was one of the... flashier attempts to get rid of May, but it wasn't really that unexpected since she's closer to Ling than most of the other princes and princesses, and being buddy-buddy with the emperor makes her a threat. In their eyes, at least." Al shrugged, but then his grin came back as he resumed the story. "So, at one point, when I'd circled around to the other side of him, the prince's elephant started to turn, and I took that opportunity to jump off the horse onto the elephant."
"Please tell me you started punching him in the face," Ed said as he felt himself get giddy.
"Once I could reach him, I started punching him in the face!" he chirped back.
"YES!" The elder Elric started cheering, fist-bumping with his brother.
"That's where this story ends, right?" Winry asked, a little uneasy at the possibility of things getting even more violent.
"Actually, no."
"Aw, great."
"What happened is that the elephant started getting confused on what it was supposed to do because its reins were being pulled in random directions, and so it accidentally started stepping off a cliff."
"A cliff." Winry gave him a deadpan stare, clearly unamused. "You fell off a cliff."
Al averted his eyes and focused on his plate instead. "Well, yeah, by then it was too late to jump off the elephant, so... we got dragged down with it."
"And how did you survive that?" Ed asked incredulously.
"May saved the day, actually. She transmuted the cliff to catch all of us before we fell all the way down."
"That's good," the girl in the trio sighed, relieved to know that no one had died. "I wonder why she didn't show up earlier, though."
"I think she was inside the palace when the attack began, so it took her a bit to get there to help me."
"So now the story ends, right?"
"Yeah. Besides me transmuting us up so that we were put back on safe ground, and the servants coming to take us all inside, that's the end."
"That's it? But what happened to the prince?" Ed frowned.
"I'm not entirely sure. I was hoping he'd get arrested, but I don't think that actually happened. Whatever the case, he definitely didn't get off scot-free."
Al's brother seemed like he was about to retort when he blinked at something-actually, someone-who had just walked over from the shop across the street. Ed wore a mildly surprised but pleased smile. "Hi, Mrs. Hughes!"
Al stiffened and spun his head to see that, indeed, behind him were Gracia and Elicia Hughes, the latter now about 7 or 8 years old, and both looked happy to see the trio. "Miss Gracia! Elicia!"
"We heard a certain young man was coming home today," the Hughes matriarch teased lightly as Al got up out of his seat to hug both the woman and her little girl.
"It's great to see you!" He grinned as he picked up Elicia and spun her around, drawing out an excited shriek from her, followed by giggles. "Wow, you're so big now!"
"We made a pie for you!" she told him as Ed and Winry stood up to greet the Hughes pair too. "You're supposed to come over to our house to eat it."
"Well, I'm already stuffed from what we just ate, but I'll eat some pie anyways," Winry chuckled, nodding toward the cafe where the trio had bought their food.
"We're supposed to?" Ed repeated, turning to Elicia and putting his hands on his hips. "And what if we don't want to come over?" he asked, just to see how she would react.
She seemed thrown off by the question, but quickly gave him a comeback. "Then I'll drag you all the way there!"
Everyone laughed together and sent each other more quips. Ed, Al, and Winry had basically finished their meals by then, so they paid the waiter and left with Gracia and Elicia to their humble abode.
v^-^v
As the small group turned the corner to enter the Hughes apartment, Gracia gave the young adults a sweet smile. "He's going to be so excited to see the three of you."
"It's been a while, huh?" Ed smiled back, as did Winry, but Al look confused.
"Wait, who?"
"Oh, yeah, you don't know," Winry mused.
"You didn't tell him?" Gracia said surprisedly as she fished her keys out of her pocket to unlock the door.
"He was in Xing at the time, so….." Ed trailed off innocently, but he wore a look that was mostly smug yet ever-so-slightly apologetic upon noticing Winry's unamused look.
"What didn't you tell me?!" Al suddenly felt nervous at that explanation. It must've been something important for Miss Gracia to be so surprised... Who would be waiting behind the door?
The door swung open and Elicia skipped through first, followed by her mom. Al came in after his brother and friend, and so he was the last to see the person sitting down in the living room.
Said person had short black hair all gelled back except for one stubborn piece at the front that rebelled. Simple frames sat on the bridge of his nose, covering his hazel eyes, and a beard was just barely starting to grow on the lower half of his face. On the left side of his forehead was a curious scar in the rough form of a small, concave circle that Alphonse recognized all too well as a bullet wound. He also happened to be wearing bright pink ducky pajamas.
Al gaped, the realization of who he was standing in front of just barely processing through his head. "...M-Mr. Hughes?!"
Maes-yes, it was really him-looked over, and belatedly started grinning at the new arrivals. "Ed! Winry!" He grunted as he pushed himself off the couch and stepped forward to give them hugs. "It's been forever since you dropped by!"
Winry giggled and fondly smiled as she hugged him. "Not that long, Mr. Hughes."
Al glanced over to his brother with a million questions visible on his face, the most prominent being 'Is this really happening?!'
Ed silently responded with his eyes that 'Yes, this is real.'
Al retaliated with a glare that said, 'I'm so going to kill you later for not telling me' before both returned to the present and realized that Hughes was staring at the younger Elric.
"I'm not sure we've met before," Maes started, putting on a polite smile. He started shaking Al's hand as he introduced himself. "My name is Maes Hughes. And you are?"
Al felt his stomach drop as his eyes drifted again to the bullet wound on Maes's forehead. If he was shot in the head, he'd be suffering brain damage. Maybe Mr. Hughes didn't even remember him anymore...
"I'm, um, Alphonse Elric, sir..."
Hughes blinked at him, then after a few seconds of thinking he looked over to the other occupants of the room. "But Al's a suit of armor, isn't he?"
Alphonse (and surely the others, too) breathed a silent sigh of relief while Ed stepped in. "He got his body back, so this is what Al actually looks like."
The older man's eyes widened and he turned back to study Alphonse's appearance with awe. "WOW! CONGRATULATIONS, AL!" he suddenly blurted loudly, vigorously shaking the blond's hand so much Al's head bobbed up and down with it. "You've become a fine young man! And you look so much like Ed! Congratulations to you both for reaching your goal!" He used his other arm to shake hands with Ed in the same way, too, though it wasn't as strong, due to that arm being his injured one.
"Thank you, Mr. Hughes," Al managed to say while being thrown up and down, and Hughes took that as the cue to finally let the two Elrics go.
"You'll have to tell me how you two did it!" Hughes continued, just as Gracia popped her head out of the kitchen. (When it was that she had left the room, the Elric brothers didn't know.)
"Let's let them talk while we all share the pie," she suggested, carrying an apple pie over to the dining table.
"Well, sure, but... I was also wondering..." Al looked to his brother for help on how to phrase the question.
"How am I alive?" Maes finished. The blond gave a small, sheepish nod in confirmation. The older man ran his hand through his black hair with a tired smile. "Honestly, I don't remember any of it myself, but Ed and my beautiful wife can fill you in."
Everyone shuffled over to the table to enjoy a slice of pie, but the mood quickly became much more serious. Elicia stayed in her own little world while the adults exchanged stories.
v^-^v ~Flashback!~ v^-^v
Hughes breathed heavily and fought to stay conscious as he finally stumbled into the phone booth and picked up the handset. He pressed the phone between his ear and shoulder to dial with his uninjured arm and pleaded for the call to go through quickly.
"Sir, this is a military line; civilians are not allowed to use it."
"I know, I'm not a civilian! I'm calling from an outside line because it's an emergency! Put me in to Colonel Mustang!"
"Sir-"
"The military is in grave danger!" he shouted, already frustrated with the operator and not wanting to deal with her nonsense.
"I need the code, sir-"
"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?" He threw out a few swears under his breath as he dug out his little notebook out of his pocket that contained the code. He shouted out the sequence to the operator. He dropped the notebook on top of the phonebox to free his hand and use it to put pressure on his deep shoulder wound again.
"Thank you, sir. You will be through in a minute."
"Make it quick!" he grunted out as his shoulder's pain spiked for a moment. He really did not have the time and desire to be polite at the moment.
He froze as he suddenly heard the click of the safety being taken off of a gun behind him.
He slowly turned to find 2nd Lt. Maria Ross pointing said gun at him. "Hang up now, sir."
He felt blood moving through his fingers, spreading through his jacket, and a harsh headache coming on, but nonetheless his mind was sharp enough to notice something was off with the Lieutenant besides her looking uncharacteristically ready to kill him. "You're not Lt. Ross. Who are you?"
The imposter blinked, but returned to giving him a cold stare. "I am her."
"Lt. Ross has a mole under her left eye."
The fake Ross was caught and both knew it. Therefore, she completely dropped the act, allowing a wicked grin to spread over her face. "How's this, then?" she asked as she placed a finger on her face where he had indicated. A spark of red zapped there and a mole appeared.
Hughes forgot his pain in a second of pure shock, but only hesitated so much before throwing one of his handy knives into the disguised monster's head and began pleading into the phone again.
"Mustang, please be there, please be there!"
He heard the familiar faint buzz of transmutation behind him, and he dared to look over his shoulder again.
The remains of red-tinted sparks showed at the tips of her hair, but otherwise, the monster now looked exactly like the love of his life. The fake Gracia even had her sweet small smile. "You wouldn't hurt your wife, would you?" the imposter said before that sick grin came onto her face again.
The call had just barely made it through to Mustang in time for him to hear his best friend cry out "ROY!" and a subsequent gunshot on the other end.
T_T Flashback Continued T_T
Maria Ross sped down the steps of the entrance to Central Command, keeping a calm facade as she started to search for Lt. Col. Hughes. She had been ordered to find where he had gone and why, for an officer had reported seeing him leave the building while bleeding heavily. Obviously, it was a suspicious and disconcerting thing to see, and they wanted to know what was going on. Though Ross wasn't particularly sure why they chose her to go find Hughes, she was determined to help him out. She was just barely beginning her trek on the sidewalk when she heard the voice of Hughes pleading loudly with someone not too far off in the distance. This, coupled with the knowledge that Hughes was injured when he disappeared, had her fearing the worst. She drew her weapon and hurried faster towards the voices.
The closer she got, the more she got a nagging feeling of dread in the pit of her stomach. It grew to the point where it slowed her down. She froze when she heard Hughes desperately cry out "ROY!" followed by a loud 'BANG!' She clamped her hands over her mouth in horror at what she saw when she peeked around the corner. Her gut told her that being caught witnessing what she had just seen would get them both killed-if Hughes wasn't dead already. She sank to the ground, back pressed firmly against the wall to make herself as unnoticeable as possible. She sat silently, waiting, waiting for Hughes's attacker to leave so so she could go check on his vital signs.
A few eternal seconds passed by, and the attacker finally seemed satisfied enough with her work to step away from the phone booth. Ross was pretty sure she could spot a mad grin on the woman's face as she walked away. The 2nd Lt. waited just long enough for the attacker to pass around the corner of the nearest block of buildings before she lifted herself off the ground and sprinted down to her superior, doing her best to gulp down her terror.
"Hughes! Respond, Hughes! HUGHES!" came what sounded a whole lot like Col. Mustang's voice from the receiver just dangling over the Lt. Col.'s body, which almost miraculously still had a pulse, before she realized she should probably answer the phone.
Ross shakily took in a breath, gingerly picked up the receiver, and asked, "Col. Mustang...?"
"What? Lt. Ross, why are you there, and what happened to Hughes?"
"Well... I don't really know, sir, but I… I know that he was shot in the head and is somehow still clinging to life." There was obvious panic underlying Ross's attempt to keep a calm tone in her voice, and despite her military training, she was struggling to not fidget.
She heard a sharp intake of breath on the other end at the news. "I-in the head?!" Mustang gave himself exactly 2 seconds to compose himself and then began to speak again. "Lt. Ross-"
"Sir, might I suggest not involving the military here until we have more information on what happened?" came 1st Lt. Hawkeye's voice over the phone, interrupting Col. Mustang before he could give an order.
There was another pause as Mustang seemed to think about what she was implying. "Lt. Ross," he began again, "do you know Dr. Knox?"
"Knox? Why him?" Ross blurted out in confusion, then glanced back to her superior's body and her resolve returned. Surely, Mustang knew what he was doing.
"Enough questions, 2nd Lt. Just take Hughes there-NOW!" Col. Mustang snapped at the phone before slamming it down like he had done to Hughes himself countless times in the past.
Ross did not hear this part of the conversation, but he had then quickly ordered Lt. Hawkeye to hurry down to Dr. Knox's house, too, to ensure that Hughes survived and that Knox knew to keep things quiet.
Ross blinked at the sudden silence on the other end, but took no more time to hang up the handset and spring into action. She started another call and attained Knox's number from the operator, and after asking for his address, she again hung up and carefully started attempting to lift Hughes off the phone booth's floor. He was bigger and heavier than she, and was practically all dead weight-no, she couldn't allow herself to think like that-and barely managed to drag his body out of the booth.
That was when she heard yet another male voice from a distance, this time calling for her.
"LT. ROSS! WHERE ARE YOU?" he called out worriedly. She sagged in relief, not having realized she had gone stiff, as she realized it was her partner, Brosh, and then thought of the potential here. He most likely had his car nearby. However, there was also obvious danger if he did find her, because she knew how bad he was at keeping secrets.
She groaned pitifully as she glanced back down to the man she was trying to keep off the ground, knowing what she had to do but not particularly liking the idea.
"Don't you dare die, Lt. Colonel," she demanded in a harsh whisper as she laid her superior on the pavement and sprinted toward Brosh's voice.
Ross turned the corner and swiftly hit her partner on the back of his head before he even noticed her appearance, effectively knocking him out cold. She snatched his car keys and pocketed them, then carefully helped his limp body to the ground safely. After finding where he parked his car, which was thankfully close by, she drove it to where she had managed to drag Hughes. Upon maneuvering him into the car, she sped to get Hughes to Dr. Knox before it was too late.
^-^' More of the same flashback... Yup. ^-^'
DIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGGG! DING! DING! DIIIIIINNNNGGGGG!
"WILL YOU STOP RINGING MY DOORBELL ALREADY?!" Dr. Knox shouted angrily as he whipped open his door to "greet" his guest.
"Col.-Mustang-sent-me-here-you-need-to-save-Lt.-Col.-Hughes!" All the words tumbled out, leaving Ross out of breath by the time she finished, but she was still fervently dragging the now very bewildered Dr. Knox towards Brosh's car and Hughes' unconscious form.
"I'm too old for this," he grumbled before he saw the condition of the Lt. Col. and sobered up to the severity of the situation. While he took Hughes inside to try to save his life, he had Ross go ditch the car somewhere, saying he didn't want it sitting in front of his place.
Lily: Welp. This started with Indiana Jones and ended with Mission: Impossible.
Esmi: Yep and I bet the suspense is killin' our dear readers right about now
Lily: You learn really fast on FFN how to torture people and be a cliffhanging jerk, so. :P
Esmi: Well we did work really hard to build the suspense in this chapter too though.
Lily: Many an hour working on our masterpiece led to this moment. :'3
Esmi: XD
Lily: Hope you guys liked this chapter and wanna see what's in store for all the characters, cuz it's a lot~ I should stop before Esmi tries to quiet me again. ^^'
Esmi: So you can teach an old dog new tricks XD
Lily: *childishly sticks out tongue*
Esmi: Plz RF&F ^^ Ja Ne
Lily: Bye! :D
