Fire Scale
Colonel Roy Mustang looked up as his office door opened; he had assumed that it was 1st lieutenant Hawkeye with more paperwork. He was surprised to see the lone figure of Alphonse Elric, who walked in without saying anything, and without closing the door, and stood in front of Roy's desk.
"Alphonse, I didn't expect you," Roy put down his pen and leaned forward in his chair. "Where is Fullmetal? I heard from the local police that his mission was a complete success. All objectives were completely with no fatalities and no property damage. Of course that was 2 weeks ago. I expected to hear from him before now."
Al just stood there, looking straight ahead. Almost as if he hadn't heard. All of mustang's subordinates, even Hawkeye had gathered around the open door of the office, curious about where Edward was.
"You are wrong," Roy started as Al spoke; his voice was devoid of any emotion, it was empty. "There was a fatality."
"And Fullmetals sulking about it..."
"No!" Al cut of Roy's words before he could continue. "The fatality was brother... he's, he's dead..."
His voice cracked at these words, it was full of tears that he couldn't shed. Roy couldn't process the wards he had just heard, he stared at the motionless form of Al in front of him. Almost as if he was waiting for Al to tell him it wasn't true, that it was just a joke. The people gathered in the doorway seemed to be in similar states of shock.
"He was checking the room, making sure that no-one was left behind. I was getting the others out, Ed told me to, but there was a fire," Al stopped, his voice was cracking again. He still hadn't moved an inch. "We... we got outside and there was an explosion. There was so much fire, it was like a volcano... they said it was too hot; no-one could have survived... I went back later, when the fire had died down... there was nothing but ashes and twisted lumps of metal... he's really gone..."
Slowly Al collapsed to his knee's his armoured hands were cradling his metal helmet. Hawkeye hurried forward to try and comfort the shaking boy. Furey had tears in his eyes, Havoc, Breda and falman all moved into Roy's office and sat on his couch. They didn't seem to be able to take it in. Roy hadn't moved, he still stared at the point Al had been standing, but he didn't see anything. His hands were baled into fists and were shaking slightly.
"I'll need to inform the Fuhrer," Roy's voice sounded hollow even to himself. Even as he said the words he found himself fighting tears.
"He was only 14..." The whispered statement came from Furey, who was still standing at the office door with tears running down his face. Everyone turned to look at the little man, even Al. "He was only a child..."
Doctor Stone sighed in relief as he entered his village. It was good to be home. He looked up at his horse; he was leading the animal and had been doing so for most of the journey. The doctor then looked back at the boy who was tied over the saddle. He hadn't regained consciousness since the doctor had found him. He frowned, the doctor was very worried about his patient, apart from the head injury, the boy had multiple bone fractures, a dislocated shoulder and numerous cuts, bruises and burns. The boy was very lucky to be alive.
"The doctor's back!" the shout came from a teenage girl with brilliant red hair. "And he's brought someone with him!"
"He' hurt," The doctor called out, "Will someone prepare a bed in my house please?"
There was a flurry of activity as a couple of women ran to a single story house near the edge of the village. Some men jogged towards the approaching doctor and his mount. The doctor began to loosen the bonds securing the boy to the horse. Two men lifted the boy and began carrying him into the house.
"Be gentle," The doctor handed to reigns of his horse to a boy who lead it away. The doctor made his way into the house; he followed the men carrying the boy into a plain room, which was obviously unused. The men gently placed the boy on the bed that had been prepared by the 2 women who had run ahead.
"What happened to him?" The question came from the red-head that announced the doctor's presence to the village. She was one of the women who had prepared the room.
"I'm not sure," The doctor smiled tiredly at the disbelieving look he earned from the teen at the statement. "He's been unconscious since I found him."
The doctor didn't volunteer any other information. He just ushered the people from the room, and returned to his patient. He smoothed the boy's hair away from his forehead, and smiled at the boy.
"You've made it this far lad," The hand stilled on the boy's head. "Don't give up now; all you have to do is wakeup."
Roy stood next to Al at the cemetery. They were all in central for the memorial. Despite the lack of body a grave had been dug. The coffin that was in the ground contained a single photograph, provided by Winry Rockbell when she and her grandmother had arrived a few days before. The subject of the photo was 2 boys, one sandy haired and brown eyed, the other blonde haired and golden eyed.
The sounds of crying and murmurs of conversation washed over Roy as he stood silently the empty grave. He turned slightly to look at the boy standing beside him. Alphonse hadn't spoken a word to anyone since he had broken down in Roy's office, not even to tell the Rockbell women what had happened. That had been left to Roy. He wasn't sure what Al might do when he came out of the almost catatonic state he was in, and wanted to make sure that he wouldn't do anything foolish in his grief.
"I'm going home, to Resembool," Al's words came as a surprise to Roy after the young man's silence. "I know your worried colonel, but I won't do anything stupid or reckless."
Al's helmet turned towards Roy, who met the red gaze unflinchingly. Al turned back to look at the grave in front of them. For a few minutes neither of them spoke. Then Roy broke the silence.
"I trust that you won't Alphonse. Good luck and I hope to see you again."
The boy inclined his head slightly before walking over to Winry and Pinako. He spoke to them for a few moments before all three turned to leave. Al raised his hand in a mute farewell to the people that he knew.
Words flowed around him, he could hear them but they didn't mean anything to him. He opened his eyes and then immediately closed them again as the light blinded him. He must have made a sound of some kind because the words stopped, and he felt a hand on the top of his head. He opened his eyes again and found that he could keep them open this time, he looked up into the face of a girl who seemed to be a little older than he was, with pale skin and freckles that were sprinkled across her nose and cheeks, and fiery red hair falling around her face.
"So you're awake then," He winced; her voice seemed disproportionately loud in the quiet room. The girl ignored his discomfort; she stood up and went to the door.
"He's awake," She called out of the door before returning and sitting at the foot of his bed. A man entered the room and seated himself in a chair near the boy's head. The man smiled down at him gently, before leaning forward and resting his chin on his hands.
"I was beginning to think that you would never wake up," The boy struggled to sit up, but was restrained by a gentle hand on his chest.
"I realise that this must be a bit disconcerting for you, so let me introduce myself. My name is Julian stone, I am a doctor. This is my house; you have been unconscious for 2 months now."
"T two..?" The boy tried to speak but only ended up coughing. The red-head scooted up the bed and placed a glass of water to his mouth. The doctor supported his head as he drank.
"Yes 2 months," The doctor continued when the boy had finished drinking. "Now what is your name? And can you tell us what happened to you? How you were injured?"
The boy frowned, his forehead scrunching up in concentration. He blinked and looked at the doctor, confusion and the beginnings of panic clearly showing on his face.
"I don't remember," The doctor opened his mouth to reassure the obviously upset boy, but was silenced by a shake of the boy's head. "I don't remember anything..."
