"Whew, thanks for the help," She said, looking around the room, "I think he really wanted to shoot me."
"Well, can't have that, now can we?" The boy said, rolling his eyes, "So what are you doing here?"
"I thought we could talk," Jessie answered without looking at him. Her eyes were trailing over a collection of books on a nearby shelf, and she silently scanned the titles. They were all about the Philosopher's Stone and agricultural alchemy.
"Talk about what..?"
Jessie looked around the room some more, finding the younger boy standing by a table in the corner. She offered him a small smile, and when she spoke her eyes stayed on his.
"Well, about you stealing my brothers' names, for one thing,"
The older boy watched her in silence for a moment. The younger did too, but out of the corner of his eye he noticed his brother kept flexing his fingers. It was an old habit, one that he knew meant one of two things – either he wanted to punch something, or his fingers were itching for the last thing he held. Which in this case… was Jessie.
"So you gonna try to make us tell everyone the truth?"
The younger boy flinched at his brother's biting tone. It was a defense mechanism, he knew. His brother lashed out when he felt cornered or threatened. But Jessie didn't seem affected by his attitude.
"Nope," She shook her head, turning to look around the room some more. "This really is a great lab. Wish I'd had something like this back home."
"You could stay and help us with our research," The younger boy offered, "Then you could use this lab."
"Fletcher!" The older boy snapped, glaring at his brother.
"Fletcher..?" Jessie echoed, "So that's your name?"
"That's right, I'm Fletcher. My brother is Russell." He didn't know why he was telling her that, but he knew he'd be in for a long lecture from Russell later. Still, he liked Jessie.
"Well, at least now I can stop thinking of you as the impostors," Jessie smiled at him, "I'd say that's progress."
"So why don't you care if we tell everyone the truth?" Russell asked, directing the conversation back where he wanted it. Jessie still didn't look at him, but continued examining the lab. The table in the center of the room held a large flask with red liquid in it, and she moved to take a closer look.
"Is that really a Philosopher's Stone in liquid form..?" She wondered, "It's not like the other one…"
"You've seen a liquid stone before?" Fletcher questioned, moving to join her at the table.
"Well, not in this state. But the finished stone comes in many forms – the one I saw was both a solid and a liquid. It was liquid in its vial, but when poured out onto a surface it took on a more gelatinous form before hardening into a crystal."
"Really?" Fletcher gave her his undivided attention. He wanted to know more. He knew Russell did too, but his brother was too stubborn to ask.
"Yeah, but we can get into that more later. I get the feeling I'll be staying here tonight, if that's alright. The guard might get suspicious if I leave so soon. We'll have time to talk about it later."
Then she glanced at Russell briefly before looking back at the table.
"The reason why I don't care if you tell anyone the truth is because I know you won't do it just because I ask. You need a reason. And I can't give you one that's good enough."
Russell was surprised by this. When he saw her standing at the door with the guard, he'd expected her to come in and argue on her brothers' behalf.
"So if you don't want to talk about your brothers, then what do want to talk about?"
"Well, I was curious about your research for one. I thought I'd see if there was anything I could do to help."
"You want to help us research the Philosopher's Stone?"
Jessie still didn't look at Russell for very long, and anytime her eyes met his she looked away quickly. He couldn't be sure, but he thought he caught a glimpse of a slight blush on her cheeks a couple times. But why did she blush every time she looked at him? Was it because of the way she'd thrown herself at him in the hallway? Was she embarrassed?
"We're looking for the stone too, as I'm sure you're probably aware." Jessie explained, "So if you learn how to create one, that would be of interest to me."
"I see. Well, you're certainly welcome to stay and assist us," Russell said, "It sounds like you have more knowledge of the actual stone than we do, since you've seen a finished one before."
Jessie looked at Russell then, giving him a small smile.
"Thank you."
That was all she said, just those two words, but she looked at him when she said them. Really looked at him, like she hadn't before.
"No problem. Now let's get to work."
...
The trio worked well into the night and early morning. Jessie told them everything she knew about the Philosopher's Stone she'd seen, and they told her everything they knew about the stone and agricultural alchemy.
Throughout the night, Jessie and Russell worked closely together, sometimes even poring over the same book and writing notes on the same papers. She didn't look at him the same way again, and when she spoke it was to both of them instead of just one, but just working beside her was enough for Russell for now.
He flirted with her every chance he got. She never flirted back, but everything he did seemed to make her blush, and he decided that it was a good look on her.
They spent most of the morning in the lab, but left around noon. Fletcher left Jessie and Russell to their own devices and went off on his own. The older teens didn't talk much – Jessie didn't seem to know how to talk to just Russell by himself. They walked around town for about an hour, helping the townspeople with whatever small trouble they seemed to be having. As they reached the residential district, they came across Fletcher, who was talking with Al.
None of the siblings spoke. Russell looked at Fletcher, then walked away, leaving Jessie behind. With a glance at Al, she moved to follow Russell, and Fletcher followed her. The trio headed back to the mansion at that point, and resumed their research in silence. They stayed in the lab for the rest of the day.
...
"Brother, there's something I need to talk to you about…"
It was the first time anyone had spoken in hours. Russell didn't answer his brother, however, so with a sigh he returned to his work. Jessie squeezed his shoulder and offered him a small smile, and the two went back to their research.
Well after midnight, Russell left to report to Mugear. As Fletcher and Jessie continued working, they heard a noise from out in the hall. It was a different hall than the one Jessie had entered through, and Fletcher looked worried as he stared at the door.
"What is it?" Jessie asked.
"I don't know, but I have an idea. Come on."
He led her to the door and, making sure his breath mask was firmly in place, opened in and stepped into the hallway. Jessie followed, staring in shock at the sight that greeted her. A river ran through the room, but instead of clear water, it was filled with red water, like what they'd been working with all night.
"Fletcher… what is this..?"
Before the boy could answer, Jessie heard someone cough from the other end of the hall. As she peered through the dark, red-tinted room, she gasped at who she saw.
"Edward, Alphonse!"
Al looked up, surprised to find his sister in the mansion. Ed was still coughing and struggling to breathe, and within moments he passed out.
"Edward!"
Al caught him before he hit the floor.
"Quickly, this way!" Fletcher called out, "Hurry!"
Al carried Ed and followed after Fletcher and Jessie, and the two led him back to the lab.
"Al, what are you doing here?" Jessie questioned.
"I could ask you the same thing. You said you were going to do some digging, but you never came back. And earlier you were with the other imposter. Have you been with them this whole time?"
"Not that it's any of your business, but yes. I've been trying to help them with their research."
"What..? But why, Jessie?"
"You and Ed have been searching for a Philosopher's Stone, remember? If they can learn how to make one -"
"But it's not real," Al interrupted, "It's a cheap imitation. That's what Brother said."
"What..?" Jessie looked to Fletcher. "A fake? You and your brother led me on for a fake? Fletcher, why would you lie to me like that?"
Before he had a chance to answer, Ed began to stir. As he opened his eyes, the three teens leaned closer to him.
"Brother, are you alright?"
"Wha..? Where am I, Al?" Ed murmured as he sat up. When his eyes fell on Fletcher, he became angry.
"What the hell is he doing here?"
The younger boy shrank back slightly, his eyes brimming with tears.
"I-I'm sorry…"
"What are you sorry about? What'd you do?"
"No, Fletcher," Al spoke up, "It's what you didn't do, isn't it? If you know something, tell us. I get the feeling you don't like what's going on here."
Jessie thought about that while waiting for the boy to answer. She knew shouldn't be too hard on him – he was doing what he thought his brother wanted. And he did try to talk to Russell about it earlier.
"That red water you saw," Fletcher began, "It's a toxic substance that's been polluting the whole town. But its… it's the final ingredient in creating the red stone."
"Is that why the people in Xenotime have been coughing so badly?"
"I'm so sorry…"
Fletcher covered his eyes as tears spilled down his cheeks. Jessie moved closer and wrapped an arm around his shoulder, and he leaned into her slightly as he cried.
"Okay, this is ridiculous," Ed said as he stood up, "First things first, let's demolish this lab."
"Edward, wait a minute," Jessie tried, but before she got further another voice spoke up.
"I can't let you do that."
Russell stood in the doorway, a small red stone in his hands.
"After all the work we've put into it, we've finally created a red stone. My father gave everything he had in pursuit of this breakthrough, Mr. Elric – if you think I'm going to give up now, you're quite mistaken."
"So you care that much about a lame piece of costume jewelry?"
Russell scowled at him, reaching out to the table beside him and picking up a lamp. Using the stone, he turned it into a thin sword.
"Yeah, a fake sword from a fake stone, huh? I think I can top that."
Transmuting his automail arm into a blade, Ed charged at Russell. The other boy held his sword up as a defense, but it quickly began to crack and chip under the pressure of Ed's superior weapon.
"Mine's the genuine article." Ed taunted. In response, Russell kicked him in the stomach, then used alchemy to create a water hose from the door behind him.
"What the..?"
"Red water straight from the tap," Russell explained, "If you're doused with it, you're a goner. You'll lose a lot more than your consciousness."
Jessie and the younger boys watched in stunned silence. Was Russell really willing to kill for this?
"Fine," Ed scoffed, "Then let it rain!"
He transmuted his arm into an umbrella to block the water as Russell opened the hose and water sprayed out.
"Ed, this is crazy!" Al protested.
"Your brother's right – just go and you can live!"
"Never!" Ed countered, "I'm not giving up to some naïve kid who's desperate to be just like daddy!"
This made Russell even angrier, and he turned the pressure on the hose even higher. It was too much for Ed to handle, and he began to slip on the water pooling around him.
"Edward!"
Jessie and Fletcher ran forward at the same time. They moved so fast, neither Al nor Russell was sure what happened next. Suddenly Ed was pushed to safety, and Fletcher lay on the floor, covered in the red water.
As soon as Jessie saw that Ed was okay, she scrambled across the floor to Fletcher's side. Al joined her only moments later, holding the boy up like he had done with Ed only a few minutes ago.
Russell stared in horror at the sight of his brother covered in the poisonous water. The younger boy's body trembled and his breathing was labored, but he turned to speak to Russell.
"Brother, the reason Dad wanted to create a red stone was to bring happiness to others and make their lives better. But what we've been doing here, it's actually been making people suffer, hasn't it?"
Russell's eyes fell to the floor, but Fletcher pressed on.
"Don't you see the cost of forging that stone? It doesn't matter who gets the credit anymore, because this isn't… because Dad would be ashamed if he could see what we've done."
Russell looked up at that, his eyes filled with pain and shock. But Jessie knew that he realized his brother was right.
Before anyone could say anything further, an alarm sounded from somewhere outside the room.
"We need to get out of here, now!" Jessie instructed, looking at the boys.
"Mr. Elric, is everything alright in there?" A guard called from beyond the door.
"Yeah, I'm fine!" Russell called, then sighed, "I told them not to bother me in here…"
"Maybe they don't really trust you," Ed laughed, "Though I can't see why, except for you know, you lying about who you are."
"Edward, this isn't the time for that." Jessie scolded. She looked around the room, and realized that Fletcher had disappeared. She found him by the door, drawing a transmutation circle on it. He used his alchemy to form a huge tree to block the door so no one could get in.
"Run for it," He said, "Hurry!"
Jessie looked back to her brothers.
"We need to go." She said again, and found them staring at her in horror. "What are you looking at me like that for? We don't have time to stand around."
Wordlessly Al reached out a hand and slid a finger down her cheek. When he pulled it away and showed it to her, she swore softly.
His finger was stained red.
To be continued in book two, "Something in the Water". Thanks for Reading!