Ed's eyes had just widened. The armor went completely still. Time seemed to have stopped, encased in ice, a painting of shock. Joanne caught the small flickers of life; Havoc's eyes shooting to his left, Fuery looking up slowly, a frown distorting his usually cheerful face. She had said something irrevocably wrong.
Then Aria took a step forward.
It was as if the glass shattered. Instantly time resumed once more, albeit very slow and cautious.
"Are you part of the team?" Aria asked, oblivious to the choking tension in the room.
"Me? Oh, yeah, I am," Ed replied after a beat, the words sped up by his relief at the changed subject.
"Then you're my Big Brother Ed," she said, nodding importantly. "You're smaller than everyone else. So you can be Little Big Brother."
And then everything froze once more. This seemed to just worsen the overall mood in the room. Ed had gone pale, but he still smiled shakily.
"Yeah?" was all he said. The fact that he didn't even react to the word 'small' alarmed Joanne. Something was horribly wrong here, if only she could figure out wh—
Then something caught her eye and her heart leapt into her throat. The golden bead on Aria's head was glowing.
"Aria!" Joanne commanded, but it was too late. Aria latched onto Ed's hand, and her mouth opened.
"What's that you're thinking of?" she questioned. "That white doggy with the red hair?"
Time didn't freeze this time. Instead, it bent out of proportion, speeding up and slowing down. What happened next seemed to run in slow-motion, yet last a second at the same time.
Ed drained of color, his jaw hanging slightly at the girl latched onto him. Then he stumbled back, stuttering some phrase before bolting out the door.
"Brother!" The armor called in surprise, taking off after him. The team stared at the open entrance where the brothers had just vanished in open-mouthed shock. Aria blinked her wide eyes, and looked back at Joanne questioningly.
"Nerve," Colonel growled in a deadly authoritative voice. "Bring them back here."
Joanne saluted. "Sir!"
She grabbed Aria's hand—she'd need her sister to track them down—then went off. As they rushed past the halls, much to the surprise of the people walking along, Joanne chastised Aria.
"Aria," she growled, "how many times have I told you not to do that?"
"Why not?" she queried innocently.
Joanne bit her lip, trying to think of it in terms that the young girl would understand. "How would you like it if I could read your mind and all your secrets?"
And, of course, since the argument was against Aria's, she puffed our her cheeks and indignantly said "I wouldn't mind!"
"And what if you were planning to steal the cookies? I'd stop you and give you a time-out before you even did anything."
That gave Aria pause. She frowned, thinking.
"You can't use that alchemy," Joanne coaxed gently. "Unless I tell you to. Even then, I'll only tell you to do it if I really, really need to."
"Okay," Aria mumbled, but Joanne severely doubted she'd pay attention.
Turns out, Joanne didn't need her sister's abilities. She just followed the trail of shell-shocked people who had just witnessed a huge suit of armor chasing the Fullmetal Alchemist.
Soon, she was lead into a web of alleyways. Aria suddenly froze.
"There," she squeaked, pointing. "They're in that one!"
"How do you know?" Joanne mumbled. The golden transmutation circle wasn't glowing. Either she somehow sensed them without the alchemy, or she had simply never turned it off. A quick sentence from Aria confirmed the latter.
"Didn't we just finish talking about this?" Joanne huffed in exasperation. She intended to continue when suddenly a look of horror flickered on Aria's face, so sudden and unexpected that Joanne froze.
"Aria? What's wrong?"
"His—his mind," she hissed, her voice suddenly not sounding that of a young child. "There's…a lotta blood…and he hurts…and he's in pain…and there's a circle there…and the big armor…his arm and leg're gone…"
"Wait—now? Or in his memories?" Joanne asked urgently. She kneeled down, grabbing Aria's shoulders.
Ignoring Joanne, Aria continued shakily. "And—and now he's thinking of the doggy again…and he's punching a person with brown hair and glasses. He keeps…hitting him…and yelling…and—and the doggy, it's talking, and he's…so scared, Big Sis!" Aria looked up, her huge green eyes locking onto Joanne's. "He's so scared. Why's he like that?"
Joanne's mind reeled. She wasn't really thinking about the dog, rather the first sentences. Blood? Pain? A circle? What kind of circle? Joanne doubted Aria could pronounce transmutation at her age. But that all sounded an awful like…
"I know it was stupid!" Suddenly, a raised voice came from the alleyway that the Elric brothers were supposedly in. "Ugh, God, that was dumb. I know Al! I just wasn't thinking, okay?! I'll go back if it makes you so damn happy…"
Joanne took Aria's hand gently, standing up and moving slowly towards the alley. Lifting a single finger to her lips and looking at her little sister meaningfully, Joanne edged towards the wall where the brothers were hiding. She peeked in, hoping to see them. Once she confirmed that they were indeed the Elrics, she stepped out of hiding.
Ed caught her eyes first and yelped in surprise. "Whoa! How'd you find—what're you doing here?!"
"You stormed out before the Colonel could give you your mission," Joanne replied evenly. "He sent me to bring you back."
Ed rolled his eyes, opening his mouth to respond when suddenly a great force attacked the back of Joanne's head. She caught Fullmetal's expression before she went down; a look of shock and horror. She then pitched forward and slammed her face on the pavement. Aria let out a wail of fear as numbness radiated from Joanne's nose. She immediately shoved herself up, looking around angrily for who had attacked her.
There she saw two people; an enormously short, fat creature who she couldn't quite pinpoint whether it was an adult or child, and a tall, thin teenager with wild green hair. The latter lifted their leg and aimed for Ed's neck, who quickly raised his automail arm in time to block the attack.
We're being jumped? She thought, stunned. Instantly her senses came back and she leapt in front of Aria, spreading her arms out to protect the little girl.
"Big Sis!" she shrieked. Joanne's heart jumped into her throat. Was she injured? She turned to face her sister.
"Those people!" she wailed. "They have so many thoughts! Big Sis, there's so so many! They're all scared…they're all in pain…"
"Turn off your alchemy!" Joanne barked. Clearly, Aria's powers weren't going to be of help here. The red-haired girl nodded fervently and placed her hands on the headband. Joanne sensed someone racing towards her, and she whirled around to face them. The green-haired person was standing in front of her with a wicked smirk. Fast as a snake, they dipped low and reached for her. Expecting an attack, she blocked, before realizing too late that they were aiming for her cape. With a flourish, they gripped the black fabric and tore it. She gave an involuntary gasp, fury welling deep in her body. She raised her foot and kicked them hard enough to stave in their chest; they stumbled backwards, hunched over. She didn't even have time to feel triumphant before red flashes of light surrounded their body and they stood upright again, the sick grin still there. They ran towards her again, aiming for her arm. She quickly began to dodge before they feinted and dipped low yet again. Before she could blink, their leg connected with hers with an incredible amount of force. Explosive tingles raced around her whole body and she crumpled. The sensations wouldn't go away, and with a thrill of panic Joanne realized that they'd broken her leg.
"Fuck!" came an intense, frustrated cry to her right. "Dammit, it's them again?!"
Again? Edward knew these thugs?
Joanne instinctively reached for her alchemy before realizing the transmutation circle was gone. Before she could devise a plan, she saw the other assailant lumber towards her and bring his fists together. She couldn't stop those fists from coming down on her head.
Back, forth, back, forth. Joanne groggily blinked her eyes open, looking around. The green-haired kid was carrying her over their shoulder, explaining the gentle sway.
"Aria," she slurred, dizzy and confused. "Aria…Aria…where's Aria?"
"Shit, you're awake?" the person carrying her grumbled. "Go back to sleep."
"Aria," Joanne repeated, her voice more urgent this time. "No…no…is Aria okay? Tell me…first…"
"That other little brat? Yeah, she's fine."
Relief swept through Joanne, so sweet and soft that her eyes slid shut and she fell asleep once more without a word.